Her Life Really Was A Mess: Maureen Johnson
by hayleynymphadora
Summary: Maureen looks back on her life. Good times and bad times with the Bohos, her getting outed and how she deals with it, and Joanne helping her get through life. Not to mention an affair with Joanne that Mark knows nothing about... Rated T for safety, because...well, it's RENT. Review for me!
1. Face to Face

**This story is fairly long, and I've been working on it for a long time. It's got a lot of problem spots still that I have to work out, and there's a lot that I need to figure out still. Like the ending... But, in any case, I hope you enjoy every minute of it, as I enjoyed/enjoy every minute of writing it. Maureen is my absolute favorite character in RENT (I LOVE YOU IDINA MENZEL!) though, I love all of the other characters as well. A little bit of Mark/Maureen at the beginning, but MoJo comes in fast and strong. Alright. Review, and enjoy! Oh, also, I don't own ANY of this. (R.I.P: Jonathan Larson. We love and thank you.).**

**_Prologue:_**

**_-Maureen Johnson sat with Joanne, terrified, because Mimi had almost just died. She watched Mark's film of the past year, clutching Joanne's hand for moral support. She couldn't believe that only a year ago, she didn't even know that the love of her life existed. Remembering this, she pulled Joanne closer, and Joanne obliged. Throughout everything they had been through, and all of the mistakes that Maureen had made, Jo was always there for her. Joanne was what made Maureen's life...livable.-_**

**_Ch.1. Face to Face:_**

She KNEW that her sound equipment would crash again! It was just her luck that Mark wasn't there to help her, too. She was supposed to be meeting him, Benny, and Collins at the Life Cafe!

Frustrated and ready to punch a wall, Maureen Johnson tried her microphone once more.

"_Roxanne, you don't have to wear that dress tonight-_" she attempted to sing into it, but all she could hear through the speakers was static.

Maureen kicked the speaker angrily with her black boot. A spark ignited from the equipment, and she jumped back in panic. Her cell phone chose that moment to go off in her jacket pocket. She was debating ignoring it, but what if it was Mark?

"Hey, it's Maureen," she answered, irritated.

"I know," said the voice of her boyfriend. "I called YOU, Reena."

"What do you want, Mark?"

"What's with you?"

Maureen ran her hand through her hair. "My sound equipment's busted again!" she complained.

"I'm sorry honey," he said sympathetically. "I really am, but I'll fix it later, promise. Everyone's waiting for you so..."

"Ok, Pookie. I'm sorry. I'm on my way." she replied.

"Love you,"

"Love you too." she snapped the phone shut and, after covering her equipment with a thick, black tarp, grabbed her keys off of the stage and rushed out of the performance lot.

It was nearly six blocks to the Life Cafe, but Maureen ran for it. By the time she made it to the Cafe, she was out of breath. She burst through the door and found the table where Benny, Mark, and Collins were waiting.

"What the hell took you so long?" said Mark. "Collins has been heavily anticipating your arrival!" he joked.

"I know, I know! Sorry, Col..." she said, kissing his cheek before sitting down across from him, in between Mark and Benny.

"Don't worry about it, Mo," he laughed.

The Life Cafe was lit and busy, filled to the max with a variety of people. Maureen scanned the place quickly, not seeing anything interesting or out of the ordinary. Growing bored of people-watching, she turned to Collins.

"You think if I flash that waiter we'll get our drinks for free?" she asked him.

Collins merely shrugged. "Worth a shot," he admitted.

Maureen was utterly tempted. She had no money and owed Mark her share of the rent. But the look her boyfriend gave her told her that if she wanted to be sleeping in the same bed as him later tonight, (which she very much did), she wouldn't be flashing any waiters anytime soon. She'd find some way to get the money...she hoped.

"It was just a suggestion," she shrugged.

"Ah," Benny gave a half-smile and Maureen rolled her eyes at him. She never did get along with him-they couldn't stand each other-the only reason they even put up with each other was for Mark's sake.

Maureen took Mark's hand in hers and leaned in close to him. Against her will, she listened to Benny tell of a tale about some kind of Cyber Arts Studio he wanted to build.

Eventually, Maureen grew bored with listening to his pointless chatter. All she ever heard come out of his mouth was blah blah blah blah... Her eyes roamed the room, but stopped dead in their tracks when she caught the eye of an absolutely beautiful woman sitting at a table full of people who seemed to be discussing something important. The woman winked and Maureen couldn't breathe. The woman's skin was mocha colored, her black, curly hair fell in little ringlets-framing her face wondrously. She had a slim figure; the black suit she was wearing hugged her hips kindly, like close friends. Her smile was stunning and Maureen's jaw almost dropped, obviously dazzled. She couldn't take her eyes off of the gorgeous mocha woman, and she didn't want to. Ever.

"Maureen?" she thought she faintly heard Mark's voice in the distance as she watched the beautiful woman move a curl from her face. So elegantly...

"Reena?!" this time it was more clear.

"Yeah." she spun around to face him, hesitantly.

"You ok?" he asked, laughing.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, Mo, we've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes," Collins said, shaking his head with a smile.

"Typical Maureen," Benny said. "Staring at some "hot" guy she saw walk by when she has a perfectly good man, right here next to her, desperately in love with her."

"I was not" Maureen fumed, her face gaining a blush.

"Mmmhmm." Benny said, clearly unconvinced. "Drop her now, Mark, while you still have a chance."

"Shut up, Benjamin." Maureen spat. "Just because I didn't want to hear you spew that bull about a cyber studio and I wasn't listening to YOU, doesn't mean that I'm any less interested in Mark than I was to begin with. It also doesn't mean that I was staring at another GUY."

She thanked her lucky stars that none noticed her emphasis on the last word-guy.

Benny shrugged. "I'm just saying, sooner or later-"

"That's enough, Benny," Mark said, holding out his hand to stop him. He kissed both of Maureen's cheeks before continuing. "Reena's blush is only because of the cold."

Maureen nodded and kissed Mark back. Benny remained unimpressed.

There was a huge silence in between, which Benny filled by saying, "So what did he look like, Mo?"

Maureen smacked him just as the waiter approached their table with the bill. Everyone chipped in 25% and started putting their coats on. As she slipped on her jacket, she thought about Benny's words. He obviously thought she was staring at another guy, which, admittedly, she probably would have been doing, if there had been a more attractive guy around. But it wasn't a man. It was a woman.

She didn't know how long she had kept her bisexuality a secret, because, in truth, she didn't know how long SHE had even known that she was attracted to both men and women. She knew one thing for sure though-she wasn't letting Benny find out about it anytime soon. He'd just use it as another excuse for Mark to dump her.

Maureen loved Mark to pieces, and she honestly didn't mean to get distracted as she so easily did. Maureen herself blamed it on ADD, but sometimes she wasn't so sure. Mark was the man of her dreams. But was he enough?

"Hey, I'm going to hit the bathroom before we go," she said. "Wait up for me?"

"'Course," Collins said. "Don't fall in!" he called after her.

She shooed him away with her hand as she entered the women's bathroom.

...

Joanne Jefferson's eyes followed the very attractive woman that she had been distractedly looking at all night towards the bathroom. Against her better judgment, she followed the hot girl, praying that she wasn't taken. Or straight.

...

Maureen went over to the sink where, none other than the gorgeous mocha-skinned woman from earlier stood, fixing her hair and her suit.

_'As if any of that needs to be fixed,'_ Maureen thought to herself. She washed her hands silently and was in the middle of drying them when the woman first spoke.

"Hello," she smiled. Maureen froze, unsure how to answer at first.

"Hi," she decided to reply.

"I noticed you from across the room earlier..." the woman said. "You were looking at me..." she said the last half of the sentence with a hint of a grin spreading across her lips.

"Oh, um, I didn't mean to, um..." Maureen stuttered.

The woman just laughed. "It's okay, really." she said. "So what are you doing tonight?"

"Oh, just getting ready to leave, actually, I was here with friends." Maureen said, finding it easier and easier to talk to the pretty woman.

"I see, that group of men you were with?" the woman implied. Maureen's heart fluttered on the inside-the woman was looking over at her too.

"Yes," Maureen laughed, holding out her hand. "I'm Maureen Johnson."

The woman took her hand and shook it. "Joanne Jefferson," she replied.

"So what are you doing here, Joanne?"

"Talking with some of the men I work with about a case that I'm about to take on," she said. At Maureen's part-way confused look, Joanne answered, "I'm a lawyer."

"Oh,"

"What do you do, Maureen?"

"I'm a performance artist," she replied. "I sing and protest for a living."

"Hmm. Does it pay well?"

"Not at all."

"Interesting. How do you pay your rent?"

Maureen paused, feeling bad. Had she completely forgotten that her boyfriend was waiting right outside the door?

"Um, I have my boyfriend pay what I can't," she replied truthfully, giving the lawyer sad eyes.

"Oh, I see. Boyfriend. Yes, many of you pretty girls have those, don't you?"

Before Maureen could decipher whether or not that was a compliment, Joanne pulled a business card out of her jacket.

"Well, if you ever get sick of guys, or you decide that you'd rather be with someone a little less white," at this last part she flashed a smile. "Call me."

Maureen barely nodded before Joanne kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the bathroom. Stunned, Maureen followed and walked over to her friends who were waiting impatiently for her return.

"There she is," Collins said. "We thought you had taken my warning to heart."

It took a few moments before Maureen realized that he meant they thought she had fallen in. She forced a smile and wrapped her arms around Mark, feeling guilty. Thank God Mark didn't notice anything unusual about her behavior...yet. When he kissed her on the cheek, her heart stopped and a harsh truth set into her head.

The kiss didn't feel as powerful as Joanne's just had and it didn't linger either. The spark she once had with Mark was gone. Maureen found it difficult to stand up straight, though she wasn't sure if that was the alcohol, or the scared feeling deep down in the pit of her stomach.

...

Joanne took her coat off and threw her keys down on the counter, stripping into something more comfortable.

"Figures," she muttered to herself. "They're always either taken or straight. There is no in-between anymore." she finished buttoning her pajama top and flopped down on her couch with a sigh. Her thoughts kept going back to that hot mess of a drama queen, Maureen Johnson. It was too bad she was with somebody. Joanne cursed herself for not getting a good look at Maureen's boyfriend before she left. What if Maureen was really content with this boy and Joanne had just screwed everything up?

_'I always screw stuff up,'_ she thought to herself._ 'It's only a matter of time...'_

The ringing of her home phone cut off her thoughts and she picked it up after the second ring, still startled after the broken silence.

"Hello?" she asked, hoping to hear Maureen's voice on the other end.

"Hello, Kitten," replied the voice of her father. Her mood dropped considerably.

"Hi, Dad." she said. "What's going on?"

"I just wanted to see how you are, that's all. Are you still dating that model from the West End?"

"No, Dad. That's long over," she said, shuddering at even the mention of her ex-girlfriend. They had been broken up for six months, she just hadn't gotten around to telling her parents yet.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Kitten. I kind of liked her."

Joanne rolled her eyes. Her father had not yet gotten used to the fact that his only child was a lesbian, and was obviously just saying that he liked her ex-girlfriend for Joanne's ears. Once they got off the phone he'd be happy dancing around the room.

"How are you, Dad?" she asked, playing with the chord of the phone absent mindedly, not particularly paying attention to what her father was about to say.

"Oh I'm doing just fine, Kitten. I've got-"

The rest of his words were drowned out while Joanne thought about Maureen. Her black leather pants, and boots that went up to her knees. She had a ring or two for each finger, her ears were double pierced. Her hair was a little past shoulder length, and was a dark brown, almost wavy enough to be considered curly. Her eyes were a dazzling green that sparkled with excitement for the most random reasons. They sparkled when she looked at Joanne, too... yet also when she looked at whoever her boyfriend was. One of the guys. Joanne had reason to believe it was the blonde one with the glasses, but she didn't get a good enough look at him to be absolutely sure of his appearance.

She focused on what Maureen was wearing. Her shirt went down to her belly button before it turned into black fishnet, which stopped at her waist. She had on a studded silver belt, and her pants stayed very close to her figure, outlining her fantastic features. They caressed her diva butt with a perfect tightness that made Joanne swoon. Suddenly she was pulled out of her reverie.

"Kitten?" her father's voice echoed through the phone. "Are you still there?"

"Yes, Dad," she said. "Just listening, is all..." she didn't like lying to her father, but she really couldn't concentrate on the conversation at hand.

"Um, Dad, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to let you go," she said. "I have a case to work on that I'm taking to court on Tuesday..."

"Oh Yes, Kitten. Have fun with your case. I love you."

"Love you too, Dad. Say hi to mom for me."

"Will do. Goodnight."

"'Night."

Joanne hung up the phone and hugged her knees tightly. She had to get her thoughts off of Maureen-the girl who was taken. But how?

...

Maureen had no intentions on leaving Mark. She loved him with her life, and he was the only man who had lasted longer than a week with her. Not even a woman had ever made it past three days. In fact, her and Mark were going on three months. What gave her reason to believe that if she gave Mark up for Joanne, that Joanne would be any different than any of the other girls that left after three days? (Or in some cases, just one day?). But Joanne seemed different.

Maureen scoffed to herself, _'Yes, Maureen, they ALL seem different at first, don't they? Mark really IS different. Are you really going to give him up for Joanne? ...no.' _she answered herself._ 'No, I'm happy with Mark and with Mark I will stay. I'm in a committed relationship with a man that I love, and the very little spark with Joanne meant absolutely nothing. It meant that I had too much to drink tonight.'_

Mark held the bedroom door open for her and she changed into yoga pants and a tank top before climbing into bed.

"You're going to sleep already?" Mark asked, checking the clock. "Reena, it's only 11:30!"

Maureen shrugged. "I'm tired, Pookie. I'll see you tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Ok..." Mark said, kissing her goodnight before reluctantly leaving the room. He flicked off the lights before he left.

Sitting in the darkness, Maureen stared at the black wall, thinking about her decision to stay with Mark. It was the right decision, wasn't it? Right now she wasn't sure. She'd figure it out in the morning.

**Oh, also, the lyrics to "Roxanne" belong to The Police. :)**


	2. Mark Cohen

**Not my favorite chapter, to be honest, but I still like it all the same, and I hope you do as well. This chapter dips a little into Mark's side of what was happening, but Maureen's not missing, don't worry! I still own nothing! Enjoy! :)**

**_Ch. 2 Mark Cohen:_**

Mark shut the door behind him gently, even though he knew that Mo couldn't possibly be asleep yet. She was so precious to him; so dear. For a moment tonight it felt like he was losing her, though he had convinced himself that it was only his imagination acting up again, because, as a director, it tended to do that at times.

Out in the "living room" of the apartment he shared, he faced his other roommates besides his girlfriend. Roger, Benny, and Collins looked at him, incredulous.

"Where's the Drama Queen?" Benny asked. "She never skips out on late-night drinks!"

Mark shrugged and sat down on the couch next to Roger. "She said she was just tired tonight..."

Benny scoffed. "Yeah," he gave a half-chuckle. "That's what they always say..."

"Will you give it a rest, Benny?" Mark groaned. "Can't the two of you go a day without being rude to each other? And you can't blame it on her this time, because YOU started it."

Benny felt defeated. "Sorry, Mark. She's your girlfriend, you love her, I get it. I'll dial it down a bit..."

"Thank you!"

The same time of night a few weeks later and things hadn't really changed much. Benny and Maureen were still arguing, Mark was still trying to convince Roger to quit doing drugs, and Maureen was still thinking about Joanne, unbeknownst to Mark and the others. Meanwhile Collins was reading a book on philosophy, paying no attention to his surroundings, and balancing a glass of Stoli on his right knee.

Mark rolled his eyes and looked around the apartment. It very obviously needed to be cleaned up-a lot. It wasn't a very large apartment, and if he really tried, he could probably get most of the tidying up done tonight, but why bother when he had Roger, Benny, Collins AND Maureen here, who were just going to mess it up again in a heartbeat? Sometimes he felt like all of his hard work was always just a bust.

He stood up, walking over to the small kitchen area and wiping down the metal cupboards with a damp towel. After finishing up the many dishes and putting them away, he shivered and gave up for the night. He'd work on some of it again tomorrow. With a sigh, he plopped back down on the couch where Roger was admittedly trying to use again. Annoyed, and frustrated with his best friend, Mark snatched the needle and powder out of Rogers hands and threw them out the window.

For once during the night, Collins looked up, amused.

"I'm done with you using, alright, Roger?" Mark fumed. "You're my best friend in the whole world and I don't need you ending up in the grave so early in life!"

"This isn't what's going to kill me," Roger said, melancholy yet monotonous. "What's going to kill me is my need to take risks and jump off buildings and shit."

"You're not doing it anymore, Roger. I'm not going to let you."

Roger rolled his eyes and went into the room that he shared with Benny without another word. Irritated, that everyone was acting like teenagers tonight, Mark decided to just go to bed as well. When he got into the room Maureen was sound asleep, curled up with the blanket and facing the wall opposite of him. He took off his shirt, put on pajama bottoms and climbed into the bed with her, cuddling up next to her. She sank into the mold of his body comfortably, seemingly dreaming.

Until he fell asleep, Mark stared at Maureen's flawless hair. It was a dark brown that naturally curled. But not curled to the point where it was frizzy or annoying-just waves and curls that mixed together and flowed down her shoulders just right. He breathed in her scent and sighed, thinking that he never ever wanted to let this go. Eventually he fell asleep, his arms wrapped around her.

...

He came into the room, and got into bed with her, wrapping his arms around her. She pretended to be asleep, for his sake, yet inwardly, still debated her situation with Joanne. She had only just met the woman, yet the choice gave her so much hardship! Why?!

Eventually she fell asleep in his arms, confused and terrified, for his sake.

...

When he woke up the next morning, Maureen was gone. When he realized that looking at the clock wouldn't help without his glasses on, he threw on his frames and almost fell out of bed in shock. What was Maureen Johnson, the Diva that never woke up any earlier than noon, doing awake at eight in the morning? Nervous to see what she was up to, he put on a sweatshirt and clambered out of bed, finding Maureen in the makeshift kitchen-the only one in the entire apartment that was awake besides himself and Benny, who was sitting on the couch and scribbling down notes, no doubt for something having to do with his Cyber Arts Studio.

"Reena, honey?" Mark said skeptically, his voice rough. "What are you doing up?"

"Making coffee," she answered, clearly still half-asleep. "Is there a law against that now?"

"It's eight a.m..."

"Benny's up," she protested.

"Since when do you care what Benny does?" Mark counter-acted.

To that, Maureen had no response.

"I couldn't sleep," she said, giving up. "Had a lot on my mind..."

"Like what?"

"Just...stuff..."

Mark could see that he wasn't going to win this war at the time, and decided to try again later, and since he was already awake, he thought he might as well just stay up. "Mo, you give me whiplash with your constant indecision," he moaned, taking off his black, rectangular frames and rubbing his eyes.

"Pookie, you can go back to sleep if you want," Maureen said, secretly wishing he would so she could continue to ponder her dilemma. "I'll still be here when you wake up..." she sat down with her coffee, burning her throat as she took one giant gulp of it from the start.

Mark gave her a condescending look, then put his glasses back on and ran his fingers through his hair-a substitute way of brushing it, before responding, "No, it's okay. I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep anyways." This of course was a lie, but he wasn't about to give Maureen the upper hand, seeing as she so often took it away from him.

"Whatcha working on, Benny?" Mark asked after a moment of silence, hoping to change the subject.

"Ah, it's something for Cyber Arts," he explained, finishing up a sentence on paper, before looking Mark straight in the eyes. "I'm sure you'd love it..." After that he went into extravagant detail, which Maureen faked a yawn listening to before curling up in the chair with a blanket and shivering from head to toe.

"Can we turn up the heat?" she complained. "My toes are suffering."

Mark gave her a warm half-smile as he walked over towards her, hugging her close to him. "Sorry, sweetheart. We don't have the money to pay for heat anymore."

"There's no heat on at all?" she said flatly. "Great..."

Mark wrapped his arms around her lovingly. "I'll keep you warm," he suggested, kissing her cheek softly. Maureen giggled and Benny gagged.

"Grow up!" Maureen spat. "Just because you can't hold a girlfriend, doesn't mean-"

"Just because you sleep with every guy you see, doesn't mean-"

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty!" Roger said, emerging from the bedroom with a yawn. "Now, shut up."

Benny went back to his "study" and Maureen gave a fake swoon. "Roger thinks I'm pretty," she pretends to be flattered. "Oh, Roggie..."

"I was saying it theoretically, and don't call me Roggie." Roger said, looking for his morning coffee and glaring at Maureen when he found out that she had gotten to it. "Next time you steal my coffee I'm throwing you out on the street, I don't care how much Mark loves you. In fact, he can live out there with you too."

"Uh oh, Roggie's angry," Maureen pouted to Mark.

"I mean it, Maureen," Roger's voice warned her and he sounded ready to smack her in the face-but Maureen had the ball in her court, and she knew it, because Roger wouldn't hit a girl in a million years, no matter how much she got on his last nerve. Maureen knew she was lucky he didn't too, because otherwise Maureen would no longer be a person, she'd be Roger's personal punching bag. Maureen laughed and turned to look at Mark, feeling guilty for even _thinking_ about Joanne earlier.

"You know what?" she said to him decidedly.

"What?" Mark mimicked her tone of voice.

"Let's do something tonight."

"Like what?"

"Let's all go to Kink Club." she suggested, her eyes glistening.

Mark sighed. "Reena, I wish we could, but you know we don't have the money for that-"

"We don't have to order any drinks or anything!" she said. "We can just go there to dance, or we can just sit and talk..."

"You mean like we are right now... for _free_?" Roger said.

"Butt out, Roggie," Maureen demanded.

Roger held up his hands in the official "I'm innocent" gesture before finally pouring a cup of freshly made coffee. _'No thanks to Maureen'_, he thought to himself, still upset with her. Ah, but he'd get over it. He and Maureen always fought over stupid stuff, but in the end of it all, they were friends and what else were friends good for?

"Let's go another night, when we have the money to, alright?" Mark convinced her. "Maybe Wednesday..."

"But that's three days from now!" she complained.

"Come on, Reena, you know we're tight on cash..."

"Fine." she pouted. "What are we going to do today then?"

Sixteen hours later, everyone who lived in the apartment was sitting on the hard wood floor, talking and laughing. An empty beer bottle rolled across the floor absentmindedly, giving Maureen ideas.

"Let's play Spin the Bottle!" she announced, picking it up and throwing it in the middle of her and her friends.

"But that's not fair, Maureen, you're the only girl!" Benny protested.

"Well fine then!" Maureen said, throwing her arms up in the air. "You're all helpless! I give up!" and with that she stormed into her and Mark's room, shutting the door behind her. After two minutes of Maureen-less, blissful silence, all you could hear coming from the room she shared with Mark was music blasting and Maureen singing over top of it.

All of the guys turned to look at Mark, and he simply shrugged. "You know Maureen, you guys. If the situation isn't dramatic enough, she'll change it so it is."

He looked at the clock and yawned. "I'm going to bed too," he announced, and with that he followed in Maureen's footsteps. When he opened the door, he was shocked to see Maureen sitting on the bed, music still blasting, but Maureen was out cold. Then he wondered to himself why he was so surprised-next to her lay seven empty beer bottles. Mark shook his head and laughed. She knows that five is her drunken limit. Seven was pushing it. She'd be sick tomorrow, and then the whole apartment would have to hear about it.

But that's how life worked when you were in love with Maureen. There was never a boring day with her around, and never a dull moment. Though she was dramatic and crazy and erratic-those things about her just made Mark love her even more. She never complained when he wanted to film her for his documentary, (she was actually great in front of the camera, and the camera loved her.). She sang for his film, she acted for his film...she was actually the only one in the group of friends that didn't complain about his constant need to get everything he saw on camera.

Maybe that was another reason why he loved her.

Oh, and also,

She was Maureen Johnson.

Enough said.


	3. Being Bisexual

**A much shorter chapter than what I usually type, but it was a necessity and I couldn't really fit it anywhere else. One of those parts that just ties everything together, you know? I still don't own RENT, no matter how cool that would be. Enjoy, all the same!**

**_Ch.3 Being Bisexual:_**

Just when Maureen got her thoughts off of Joanne, Joanne would call, and ruin Mo's solitude. She felt like an alcoholic on rehab. She would be doing incredibly well sober, but then she'd take one tiny sip and become an instant drunk. Take now, for instance. Mo was sitting on the couch, not thinking about Joanne or, at least...trying not to. Mark had just left-he was going out for the day, to see what all he could get on film, (something besides Maureen, for a change).

Her hand was hovering over the phone, unsure. The last time they had called and talked to each other, it lasted three hours, and they almost got caught by a snooping Roger, who seemed to always be just "around". Getting caught probably wouldn't be that big of a deal, really. It would just be like two friends talking on the phone, right? But wouldn't it be sort of weird that Maureen had another friend that she was mysteriously calling for hours at a time, that she never even hung out with? Mark would want them all to hang out together, and that probably wouldn't work well. Maureen and Joanne would just be uncomfortable with Mark there, and...things would get awkward.

So she sat there and stared at the phone for what seemed like a month. Eventually, she convinced herself that if she didn't quit looking at the phone, she'd probably go cross eyed. Also...Mark might come home soon. She picked up the phone and dialed the number slowly, somewhat hoping that Joanne wouldn't answer. Yet, Maureen knew in her heart that if Jo didn't answer, her answering machine would be blown up with messages until they got to talk again. This she knew from experience.

On the third ring, Maureen's heart started to pound. Joanne had caller ID, right? She was probably sick of hearing Maureen's voice and decided to ignore her call... Or maybe she was in the shower or something...Joanne in the shower- that had to be a sight... Maureen smiled to herself, then realized how completely awful she was for thinking like that. Before she could mentally cheat on Mark any further, Joanne answered the phone.

"Hey!" she said so happily; Maureen could almost hear the grin on her face.

"Hi!" Maureen replied. "What's going on?"

Joanne dangled the chord of the phone between her fingers, a slight blush on her face. She was happy that Maureen couldn't see her through the phone. "Oh, not much, just...waiting for you to call."

"Well, wait no longer!" Maureen smiled, and then realized Joanne couldn't see her.

"...A schedule would be nice..." Joanne said almost quietly.

Maureen winced. "I'm sorry! I would've called earlier, but...Mark only JUST left the house..."

"It's alright, Mo. I'm not mad; I was just...stating a fact, that's all."

There was a short silence between them, and Maureen was the one to break it.

"...Hey, we're all going to the Kink Club on Wednesday. You should come! We can...randomly run in to each other there." Maureen's voice was persuasive, needy.

"...I don't know, Honey..."

After the many many phone calls exchanged between the two of them, Joanne had gotten into a habit of calling Maureen "Honey", and Maureen had gotten into a habit of calling Joanne "Jo". Maureen gave a pout, even though she had to keep reminding herself that Joanne still couldn't see her. She wished she could see Joanne's beautiful face again. She wanted to talk to Joanne in person, without blocks and blocks in between them.

"Please?" Maureen gave out her best "I really want to see you" whiny voice, which made Joanne agree almost instantly.

"Fine. Yes. I'll come."

"Great! I'll see you then, alright? I think Roger's evasdropping..."

"Okay, goodbye honey."

"Bye, Jo!"

Maureen hung up, though she wished she didn't have to. Joanne's heart leapt a little bit. She couldn't believe she had just agreed to go clubbing with Maureen! She tried to contain her excitement. But then she did a double take with her mind. Maureen had just VERY easily convinced Jo to do something. That could turn into a problem later on in their relationship-if they ever really got IN to a relationship, which Joanne very much wished would happen.

All she had left to do was wait until Wednesday...it wasn't that far away... Yet the three days passed by like molasses, feeling more like weeks.


	4. Lesbian Lawyers

**The beginning of this chapter slightly dips into Joanne's point of view. A lot of this story is going to have other people's points of view, just to carry the story along. Anyways, I really like this chapter and the chapter after it, and I hope you do too. Review and tell me what you think about the whole story so far! All rights go to Jonathan Larson. Enjoy!**

**_Ch.4 Lesbian Lawyers:_**

Joanne checked her answering machine for the third time that day and sighed.

"Why hasn't she called me back yet?" she wondered aloud, clearly upset. "She couldn't at least call and say hi?"

The Kink Club gathering was tonight, and she had mixed emotions. She felt depressed and irritated since she hadn't had an actually "successful" or even relatively "good" relationship in two years. Then again, if she ever had a "successful" relationship, wouldn't she still be apart of it? That rested her case. She was guilty of not being in love with another. Though that Maureen girl...

The thought of Maureen just made Joanne shudder in hopeful desire. But knowing that Maureen was still seeing someone-a guy, no less- was more than a wake up call to her. She sighed, grabbed her keys off the counter, and locked the door behind her.

Tonight, she was going to the Kink Club. She was going to forget all about her past failed relationships. If she was lucky, she'd get Maureen tonight. If she was lucky, they'd have a long, happy relationship. If she was lucky, Maureen would be a lesbian too, and she'd love her, and stay with her forever.

But Joanne was rarely ever lucky.

She wore black jeans, a little tighter than they were meant to be worn. Her hair was casual, because there wasn't much else she could do with hair that short and curly. A white spaghetti strap tank top was what she had on for a shirt, and a black jacket was resting on her shoulders. Her feet were comfortable in her usual Doc Martens, and she walked down the Avenue, feeling more hopeful than ever before, and praying that Maureen would be her knight in shining armor tonight. If not tonight, hopefully sometime soon. Hope. That's all Joanne could ever do anymore.

After walking seven blocks, she made it to the Kink Club. The entrance was blocked by some bouncers and she sighed, not wanting to have to deal with them tonight. She approached the doors, and, as she had assumed, they stopped her right away.

"What's your age?" one of them asked.

"21," she answered.

"You don't look 21,"

"And you don't look mean enough to be a bouncer," she threw back, taking a good look at the two of them.

In truth, the one that she was talking to really _did_ look mean enough to be a bouncer-heck, he looked mean enough to be a murderer, but she wasn't about to tell HIM that. They were both tall-maybe about 6' 3'' a piece-and they were big and tough. They could've been twins; the way their expressions were EXACTLY the same, and how they had the same skin tone (a pale white) and their heads were both the shape of an oval.

"Date of birth?" the second one asked her.

Joanne rolled her eyes. "August 23, 1968." she said promptly, not missing a beat. They counted how long it would take you to answer, in case you can do the math in a quick enough time. But they probably assumed that she had her answer rehearsed, considering how fast she replied.

"Let me see some ID," the first one grunted.

Joanne flashed her work ID at them, and they studied it carefully, checking to make sure it wasn't fake.

"You're a lawyer?" thing 2 said skeptically.

"Yes, and you're a bouncer, and hey, what do you know? My cousin's a therapist! Can I go in now?" she demanded, growing impatient.

Thing 1 grunted once more, then shoved Joanne's ID back into her hands and gestured her inside.

"Thank you," she smiled with a fake hospitality. Ever since she had turned 18, bouncers had been her enemies. She looked so much younger than she was, and they ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS had to stop and question her. It grew tiring after a while, and Joanne grew bored of getting stopped every time she wanted one freaking drink. It then dawned on her that bouncers were the reason why she stopped going to clubs and bars in the first place, though Maureen had quite obviously persuaded her to go tonight.

She stepped into the club with a sense of accomplishment. This was her first time going to the Kink Club since her 19th birthday. She had gotten so busy with work and school that she almost forgotten this place was here. She'd had drinks since then, of course, but...it just wasn't the same when you had no one to dance with and no flashing strobe lights surrounding you, and music pounding through your body so hard you're afraid your heart might explode.

Multicolored lights flashed everywhere, almost blinding everyone they touched-but that was the way she liked it. The music blared to the point where if you wanted to talk to someone right next to you, you were going to have to scream so they could hear you. The bar was jam packed with people, gays, straights, bisexuals, bohemians, lawyers, and lesbians alike. Joanne couldn't wait to meet every single last one of them.

But before she could even venture towards the alcohol, she heard a laugh that caught her attention. She turned, and standing right behind her was none other than the wonderful Maureen Johnson, giggling and joking with her friends that had apparently decided to take her out tonight.

Joanne counted the guys with her.

One. He wore his hair long, caramel brown, and messy. His clothes were baggy and he looked stoned, wearing a somewhat blank expression as opposed to Maureen's wide-spread grin.

Two. Next to the stoned one was an African American, handsome devil. He wore just jeans and a red t-shirt, his dark skin accenting the colors quite nicely. His laugh was deep, and booming but when he looked at Maureen, Joanne spotted tension between the two of them. It seemed as though it wasn't often that they agreed on anything.

Three. He had almost the same shade of skin as Joanne had. He wore a navy blue knit cap which hid his practically bald head, as opposed to the black devil, who was completely bald. His chin had black hair sprouting from it, though it was closely shaved, and he also had a little bit of a mustache.

Four. He had short, almost spikey blonde hair, and black rectangular framed glasses. He had a brown backpack-type bag draped across his shoulders, carrying what, Joanne couldn't imagine, but it must have been important, because this man's hand never once let go of the strap on his shoulder. His other hand was connected to Maureen's, and Joanne figured it was safe to assume that he was her boyfriend. Maureen kissed him on the lips, which pretty much erased any doubts Joanne had in the back of her mind. Her happy face fell drastically.

Before Joanne could turn around and walk away, in hopes that she would catch Maureen a bit later on the dance floor, Maureen caught sight of her and smiled.

"Hey!" Maureen shouted, smiling from ear to ear. "Joanne, right?" the girl tried to act as if she didn't remember Joanne's name, but the look on her face told Joanne that she hadn't stopped thinking about her since their last meeting. For once, she felt hope.

"Hi," Joanne smiled back. Might as well play it up. "And you're Maureen, right?"

Maureen caught on to Joanne's expression almost as fast as Joanne had caught on to hers. The both of them quickly dropped their gazes to the floor and then slowly looked back up at one another. Maureen's boyfriend cleared his throat, probably to clear away the awkwardness, though it didn't do that in any way, shape, or form.

"Reena, honey, you want to introduce us to your friend?" he asked her.

"Oh, yeah," Maureen laughed nervously. "Um..guys, this is Joanne Jefferson. Joanne, this is, Roger," she pointed to the stoned one. "and this is Benny," she pointed to the deep chocolate devil. "and Collins," she pointed to the one with the knit cap. "and this is Mark," she held up her hand which was still clasped on to her boyfriend's.

"Hi," Joanne said. "It's great to meet you."

"Great to meet you too," Mark spoke for all of them before Benny could try. "Are you here with anyone tonight?"

Joanne almost lied to him, but then she thought about Maureen, and would she ever lie to her? "No, i'm not, actually..."

"Well, you're more than welcome to come and hang out with us for the night," Collins invited. "We have room for one more!"

Joanne looked into Maureen's eyes, and Maureen looked back at her. There was a little spark between that look, and Joanne's heart skipped a beat. Maureen's eyes were absolutely gorgeous. A brilliant shade of emerald, though they appeared to change depending on her outfit. Hazel. Maureen had hazel eyes. Joanne told herself to remember that and keep track of things that she learned about Maureen that night.

"Sure," Joanne agreed. "I'm actually going to go to the bathroom first, but, I'll meet you guys when I'm done, alright?"

"Yeah, whenever you're ready to get this party started!" Collins said with a laugh. "We'll see you in a few."

"Kay," Joanne said, giving Maureen a very subtle wink before heading towards the bathroom. She prayed that Maureen got the message and would meet her in there. She didn't even have to wait a minute before the Drama Queen herself trailed in after Joanne. There was no one else in the bathroom, and Maureen and Joanne were alone together.

"Hi," Maureen half-whispered.

"Hi," was Joanne's brilliant response as Maureen edged closer to her.

"Look, Joanne," Maureen began. "I couldn't stop thinking about you. Not since I saw you last. I didn't call, because...well...I guess I didn't have the courage. Thinking about you probably isn't a good thing, especially since I'm with Mark. Mark's a REALLY great guy, and I was pretty sure he was the one for me. He's perfect. But then I met you and I've been questioning myself ever since and I just, God! I don't know what to do! I'm scared, I'm nervous, I don't want to screw up my relationship, UGH but I want _you_!" she was saying everything so fast that Joanne could hardly keep up. "God, Joanne, I want you. But I'm scared what it'll do to Mark, and-"

Joanne silenced her with a kiss on the lips. It started as nothing, as a mere peck of the mouths. But then, as Maureen allowed it to, it progressed into something so much more. For the first time in her whole life, Joanne felt an amazing chemistry between her and someone else. She was ready to love Maureen forever and always and it was only just the first kiss. A stream of panic ran through Joanne as she realized that it might be their _only_ kiss. She held Maureen close and didn't EVER want to let her go, and, to Joanne's utter surprise, Maureen kissed her back. She tasted sweet, like vanilla, and her hands grasped Joanne's back tightly; a needy and loving grasp. When they broke apart it was at least two minutes later.

"Is that always going to be how you tell me to shut up? ...I've never kissed a girl before...not like that...most of the relationships i've tried with a girl have lasted three days, and didn't really count for anything. Not much more than friendship, really..." Maureen said after a small moment of silence.

Joanne gave a small giggle. "If that's how you want me to tell you to "shut up", i'll tell you to "shut up" all day." she smiled. "...and kissing a girl is no different than kissing a boy. Except kissing a girl is much more pleasing."

"I'll be the judge of that." Maureen said, with a small grin. "You know...people are always telling me to shut up," she admitted. "Not-not by kissing me of course, but, I mean, they tell me to shut up a lot, because, well, I talk a lot when I'm nervous and I-" Joanne kissed her again, loving the sound of Maureen's voice, but wanting another excuse to touch her soft lips.

"I have a feeling you talk a lot, whether your nervous or not." Jo said.

"Wow, that's going to be fun to get used to" Maureen gave a laugh of sheer happiness, but then she caught herself. "What about Mark?"

Joanne said nothing at first, figuring that it would come to him sooner or later. "It's your choice, Maureen." Joanne threw the option out there for her. "I'm not going to force you out of your relationship."

"Ahh, but you already have," Maureen said. "You just didn't mean to, and you didn't know it...Dammit! Why are you so...dazzling?!" they both laughed this time.

Maureen stood next to Joanne, weighing her options for a few minutes. It was a very tempting offer, but she loved Mark! She did. She loved Mark. But this thing for Joanne...Maureen had never felt that way before. About anybody-not even Mark. This feeling of pure joy whenever she even _thought_ of this woman. The shock that went through her when they kissed. The softness of her skin...the beauty of her...

"I don't mean to rush you, Maureen, but the boys are going to wonder where we went." Joanne reminded her.

"I know," Maureen said softly. She hugged Joanne close to her, and even though they had only met days ago, it brought her extreme comfort. Major happiness. Wonderful bliss. "Mark can't know," Maureen said, her voice almost breaking. Her eyes were starting to tear up and she almost began hyperventilating. "God, he's going to be CRUSHED if he finds out. When he finds out... I can't break up with him right away, he'll know something's not right!"

"Hey, hey, hey..." Joanne said, holding Maureen's face in her hands. "You don't have to pick me. I'll be okay if you don't."

"No you won't," Maureen teased.

Joanne sighed. "Ok, you're right, I won't. But... I'd live, eventually. Mark might not. So pick the one you think will be right for you. Because it's _your_ life, Maureen."

"But it's yours and Mark's too!"

"You don't have to break up with him right away, and you don't have to break up with him at all! Just tell me when to stop."

"You might have to wait a while for those words to come out of my mouth," Maureen flirted.

"I have a while," Joanne replied with a warm smile. "Is this what you want? I need a straight answer."

"But...this would be a lesbian relationship, so, technically, you don't want a straight answer," Maureen contradicted.

"Well aren't you a Smart Alec?"

"My name's Maureen, actually..."

"And that's a gorgeous name, truly, but please stop changing the subject," Joanne asked of her, still awaiting her answer.

"This is what I want," Maureen answered. "You."

Joanne nodded and kissed Maureen's cheek. "We need to go, before the others begin to worry."

With that they left the bathroom acting as if they were just friends. Acting, as if none of that had ever happened. They stood quite a distance away from each other, just as a precaution, and they vowed that Mark would never see the two of them together again. When they were to see each other, it was to be done in secret.

As Maureen sat down next to her "boyfriend" she tried to convince herself that she wasn't cheating. She had simply fallen for someone else and didn't tell the other person yet out of fear that he would have a heart attack. Not cheating. A safety precaution.

Both girls felt absolutely awful, but...love is love, right? And when Maureen couldn't feel anything for Mark anymore, what was Joanne supposed to do about it? She couldn't fight the feelings for Maureen, so why not just embrace them! But for Maureen's sake she would keep their love a secret. She'd keep it a secret for as long as it needed to be. Until she felt that Mark needed to know that she loved another. She'd do anything for Maureen Johnson: the Drama Queen of Avenue A.

But there was also the other thing that Maureen had neglected to mention to Joanne.

Nobody besides Joanne knew that Maureen was bisexual, and she was kind of hoping that it could stay that way for as long as possible.


	5. Kink Club

**One of my longer chapters, and, as I said before, one of my favorites. Maureen and Joanne figure out how they're going to make things work, with Mark still "in the dark" (didn't mean for that to rhyme, it just sort of..happened..). All rights go to Jonathan Larson. Enjoy and Review! :)**

**_Ch.5 Kink Club:_**

Joanne took the seat on the other side of Maureen, hoping that the others figured she would sit next to Maureen only because she was the only person there that she knew. The two of the girls already felt so guilty, yet the others quite obviously suspected nothing out of the ordinary was up.

Knowing that she needed to keep loving Mark as she had, not twenty minutes ago, Maureen cuddled up against him as she so often used to. He kissed her sweetly and she let him, though didn't show much interest at all in kissing him back. She later realized that right there was one of her first mistakes, though, at the time, she didn't think that he had noticed. Joanne just watched the two of them curiously, knowing that this was what Maureen had to do. Her heart fluttered to think that this dark-haired beauty was hers now. So much can happen in just a matter of seconds...

Joanne dwelled on that thought for a few minutes. Seconds go by, and people's lives change. In seconds, Maureen went from loving Mark, to falling head over heels for Joanne. In seconds, Joanne was already in love with Maureen. Desperately in love.

In a matter of seconds, babies are born and friends die. People get married and couples argue. Tsunami's strike and tornadoes blow through. Incredible, how such a little amount of time can change a person's live forever, isn't it? 10 minutes could change the world as we know it. A year would be doing serious damage.

"So are you employed, Joanne?" Collins asked conversationally.

"Yes, I'm a lawyer." she responded, in kind.

Collins gave a low whistle. "Mo, how in the world did you get a lawyer to talk to people like us? Did you seduce her with that pretty smile of yours?" he meant the last part as a joke. If only he knew how dead on his words really were.

_'Yes,' _Joanne thought joyfully. _'Yes, yes, yes, that's EXACTLY what she did!'_

"We met a few weeks ago," Maureen said, truthfully. "I hardly know her."

The reality of Maureen's final sentence struck Joanne, though she tried her best not to dwell on it. Maureen was right though, they hardly knew each other. _'So I'll make it my obligation to GET to know her.' _Joanne thought determinedly.

"Have you all known each other for very long?" Joanne asked everyone.

"Oh, yeah, we go wayyyy back." Roger said.

"I've known Mo since she moved here, to New York." Collins said. "I was her first friend when she was 15. In fact, I was the one who introduced her to Mark!"

"I see," Joanne and Maureen exchanged a nervous smile at the mention of Mark's name.

"Yep!" Maureen piped up. "And I met Roger and Benny when I moved in with Mark, when I was 17."

"How old are you, Maureen?"

"21." she answered simply.

_'Five years. Maureen has been with Mark for five years, and she's going to throw it all away for me?! This isn't right...' _Joanne thought. _'She's obviously very in love with him. I'm just screwing that up!'_

Three drinks later and nobody felt like sitting still at the dinner table for much longer. In moments, they were up on their feet and dancing with each other. Roger found his friend April, (who seemed like much more than just a friend, and Maureen secretly knew that they were dating- and had been for a long time...). Collins somehow managed to sweet talk one of the more flamboyant gays up at the bar into a few dances on the black-lit dance floor. Meanwhile, Mark and Maureen were doing some sort of Tango across the floor.

Since it was just Benny and Joanne left at the table, he asked her to dance and she agreed. They moved around the dance floor, eventually making it somewhat near Maureen and Mark. Joanne's stomach flipped and she felt violently sick thinking about what she was about to do. The song ended and Benny kissed Joanne's hand before letting her go. She forced a smile for his eyes and then took a hold of Maureen's hand before another song could begin.

"Can I talk to Maureen for a few minutes?" Joanne asked of Mark, sweetly.

Mark seemed flustered. "Um...yeah, sure..go ahead..." he answered.

Joanne flashed him a smile and he didn't seem sure of what to do with himself. Then, without another word, Joanne pulled Maureen over to the corner of the Club and looked deep into her eyes. Joanne's heart thumped and felt as though it might fall out of her chest.

"Maureen, I'm not sure if I can do this..."

"What? But...but...you and I...we only just..."

"I know. I know, but..." Joanne struggled to find a way to explain this to her newly found love. "You're so happy with Mark! You have a great life with him! I'm just going to destroy that. Hell, I already have, and I'm so sorry. This is too much for you, and I shouldn't have even said hi to you at the Life Cafe the other night. It was wrong of me. I couldn't help myself. But I can't sit here and watch you throw away that beautiful relationship, and I can't-I just can't..." Maureen took her by surprise when she quickly kissed her on both cheeks.

"Joanne, you're acting more of a Drama Queen than I am," she half-laughed. "Yes, I'm scared about what's going to happen. I can see that you are too. But we'll get through it together!"

"We hardly know each other."

"Then we'll get to know each other."

"What about Mark?" Joanne pleaded.

"Mark will be fine, I promise." Maureen said. "Now," she gave Joanne a killer smile and took both of her hands in her own. "Dance with me!"

Joanne laughed as Maureen spun her around in circles across the dance floor. When they passed by the boys, they were all laughing, obviously thinking that the girls were just messing around. Ah, but Joanne and Maureen enjoyed every minute of dancing with each other. Their bodies were close to each other, and they laughed and jumped and spun. They had pretty much no idea what dance they were even doing. They just winged it, doing whatever move came to their heads. Maureen was surprised at how well Joanne's hips moved to the blaring music. She let the beat carry her through, and let her body move of it's own accord. The both of them stopped when the song did, exchanging an almost sad look that it was all over, and Mark would be asking for Maureen back now. Maureen dropped her head down, her eyes looking at the floor. Joanne took her hand and lifted Maureen's chin lightly, but, realizing that the others were watching them, she merely hugged Maureen tightly, laughing and acting as if they were the best of friends. In time, she very much hoped that they could get to be that, and much more.

"Keep your head up, girl, and show everybody those gorgeous emerald eyes of yours," Joanne told her.

Maureen giggled and Mark chose that moment to crash their little rendezvous. "Hey, Reena, it's 3 a.m, and the others were thinking of leaving. You ready?"

"Yeah," she answered. "Lemme go get my coat, I'll meet you outside, alright?"

Mark nodded and kissed her forehead before leaving the Kink Club. Maureen gave Joanne a small smile as Joanne handed her the white leather she was passing off as a coat. "It's not real leather," Maureen said, changing the subject that she knew Joanne was going to bring up. "I'm a vegetarian..."

"Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?" Joanne asked her in all seriousness.

"Absolutely sure." Maureen promised. "What else do I have to live for?"

"Mark."

"Joanne, I'm bisexual.. I love Mark, but...not like I used to. Like a brother now, truly. I'm going to have to break up with him eventually anyways."

"Yes, but if you had never met me-"

"I would never truly be happy with my life if I had never met you, Joanne." Maureen said. "Please quit worrying."

"Don't you think you're taking this to extremes? We haven't known each other THAT long... Besides, I'm a lawyer. It's my job to worry about people..."

"Well, I'm not one of your clients. I'm your...I'm... look. You don't have to worry about me, okay? Mark and I will be fine, and so will you. I promise."

Joanne hoped to God that Maureen knew how to keep her own promises, unlike so many others who had broken her heart in the past.

"Mark can't ever see the two of us together ever again, Maureen. It breaks my heart."

"But he doesn't know!"

"Exactly. If this is going to work..."

"...Is this going to work, Joanne?" Maureen's voice quivered for a moment.

Joanne sighed. "I hope so. Ok...Now... I know I gave you my number," she winked at her. "Call me. When will I get to see you next?"

"Without Mark knowing? I have no idea, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. Truly." Joanne hugged her before putting on her own jacket and walking Maureen to the front door. "Call me when you can, alright?"

"Alright."

They exited the club together and Joanne said her goodbyes to the guys before turning around and walking in the opposite direction of Maureen. They looked back at each other once, and then went their separate ways for the rest of the night.

Joanne couldn't believe her luck. In one night, she had taken control of her love life, and now she was with none other than the one and only Maureen Johnson: Drama Queen of Avenue A! She still felt horrible for the whole Mark situation, though. But...she gave Maureen a choice, and what else could she do? She could say no... but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Already, she was falling in love with this woman. She tried all night to figure out if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

A month later and she still didn't know for sure. She had seen Maureen at least once every week, and cherished every moment they got together. Right now she was sitting with Maureen in the middle of Central Park. Both of them lay on the ground, looking up at the clouds and pointing out shapes.

"Look!" Maureen exclaimed. "I see a mic stand!"

Joanne couldn't help but laugh. "You would see a mic stand, Mo."

The weather was great for it being the middle of November. No snow on the ground at all, and the sky was perfectly clear. Sun shined down on Maureen's pretty face, giving her a glow that Joanne had never noticed before.

...

"How's work going?" Maureen asked Joanne, holding her hand and laying close to her.

"Can we pick a different topic?" Joanne asked, half-a-laugh escaping her mouth.

"Sure." Maureen thought for a minute, before saying, "Benny moved out."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. He's being a -a jerk, to put it lightly." she informed her girlfriend sadly. "He's dating Allison Grey."

"Of the West Port Greys'?" Joanne asked, dumbfounded, and now sitting up. Maureen sat up with her.

"Yep. Her father owns...well, everything. We think he's just dating her because it'll get him closer to building that stupid Cyber Studio he kept going on about..."

"Oh, jeez..."

"Yeah, so now we're all fighting with him..."

"That's a shame, I sort of liked him. He seemed like a descent man."

"The only descent men are the gay ones." Maureen pouted.

Joanne smiled. "That's not entirely true. What about Mark?" as soon as she had said it, she regretted it. "Forget I said his name," she begged. But now that request was impossible.

"I haven't told him yet..." Maureen said.

"Told him that we're together, or that you're bisexual?"

"Either one." Maureen moved all of her hair over to one side of her body, playing with her curly brown locks. She obviously needed something to do with her hands. She was fidgeting. Joanne planted a sweet kiss on the crook of Maureen's neck and Maureen shivered happily. "Do I have to tell him?" she asked. "I mean..."

"Eventually, Mo, I'm afraid you might have to..." Joanne said. "We can tell him together, if you want."

Maureen thought about that for a second. She would much rather get yelled at with Joanne by her side to keep her comfort. It would make her feel a lot better. Then again, telling her "boyfriend" that she's been practically cheating on him with a woman because, surprise, she's a lesbian after all, while her girlfriend was standing right next to her, probably wasn't the easiest way to spare his feelings. That's what they had been trying to do this whole time to begin with, wasn't it? Spare Mark's feelings? She didn't want to see him get hurt.

"No offense, Jo, but...I don't think you being there is going to help much."

"I know, but, I thought it might make you feel better."

Maureen sighed. "It probably would," she admitted. "But I have to do this myself ...somehow...someday..."

"Someday soon?" Joanne pressed. "I don't like us being this secretive."

"I know, I don't like it any more than you do, trust me."

"So you'll tell him tonight?"

Maureen groaned.

"I'm sorry, but...It's just..." Joanne tried to get her feelings out, but Maureen stopped her.

"I know. I know." she said quietly. "Give me a week, ok?"

"Ok."

It took longer than a week.

...

The girls were at Jo's apartment, laying on the couch with each other. Joanne's fingers were intertwined in Maureen's wavy brown hair, playing with it, braiding it, straightening it. Meanwhile, Maureen's fingers were lightly tracing patterns on Joanne's light brown legs. Joanne fashioned shorts and and t shirt and Maureen wore her old jeans and shirt that she had had for who knows how long. Maureen was laying back against Joanne, so that Jo's legs were slightly wrapped around the back of Maureen's body.

They kept each other close, not paying any attention at all to the movie they told Mark they were going to "watch" together. This closeness was still new to them, and they took in every minute of it that they could. It was precious love, and it made Maureen excited to think that when she wasn't with Mark, she was with Joanne. She never wanted to be with Mark again, now that Jo was her alternative. She was her other half-she was positive about it.

After a little while, Joanne sighed, grinning down at her lover. "We're supposed to be watching this," she pointed out to Maureen. "Do you know what's going on?"

Maureen pondered this for a moment, then turned around so that their bodies still had the same closeness, except for now they were facing each other, their faces close. "I don't even know the _title_ of the movie, Jo." she giggled. Joanne couldn't help but roll her eyes as she kissed Maureen's forehead softly.

"What are you supposed to tell Mark we were doing then? You know...you could tell him that we were making out..."

"Why would I tell him that?" Maureen said, standing up and heading towards the kitchen so she could pour a bit of wine for the two of them. Joanne thankfully took the glass of wine and practically downed it in a gulp. Maureen did the same.

"Because, honey, you still have to tell him-"

"I know!" Maureen said, getting fed up with Joanne's constant reminder. "You don't have to remind me every single day, Jo!" Joanne could swear she saw a hint of depression in Maureen's eyes as she went off.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Joanne followed a storming Maureen back into the living room. Maureen hit play on the movie and pretended to watch it. Jo simply turned the power off on the tv and dragged Maureen towards her, obviously worried. "Ok, this is more than just breaking his heart now. Why don't you want to tell him? I want the truth."

Maureen's body started shaking-and it wasn't because she wanted it too. It was an uncontrollable fit of nervous shivers, running all throughout her small, fragile frame. Joanne placed her hands on Maureen's arms, trying to get her to stop, but it didn't work. "It's-hard for me to...I-" Maureen was finding it difficult to breathe.

"Mo, honey, please?" Joanne said it so warmly, and so inviting, that Maureen melted and froze all at the same time.

"It's just... my...okay.." Maureen took the deepest breath she could, which really wasn't much, and began talking to the woman she loved, spilling one of her deepest secrets. "My parents raised me to love a man. They don't particularly approve of much of anything that I do, and they certainly wouldn't approve of this. They raised me to shy away from the people that are gay. They don't mind Collins, because they're used to him, and he's not flamboyantly throwing the fact that he's gay everywhere. But can you -imagine how much they'll hate me once they find out what I am? All my life my mother's been telling me that something's wrong with me. It was either, "Oh, you sounded really good singing that Maureen, but you messed up this and this and this. Make it better. Make it perfect.". I was never enough. -and this-it just adds to my many flaws...and-"

Joanne stopped her with a sweet, soft kiss on the lips, staying an extra four seconds before she pulled away, only far enough to be able to open her mouth and talk. "Maureen, being bisexual isn't a flaw. It's just love. Pure love. You can't help any of this."

"My parents are Christians," Maureen added, under her breath.

"Are you?" Joanne asked her kindly.

"I believe in God," Maureen said thoughtfully.

"Well, good, there's something else we have in common." Joanne said. "You know what I think? I think that if God didn't want people to be gay or lesbian, or bisexual, then they wouldn't be. You have nothing to be ashamed of, loving me. I have nothing to be ashamed of, loving you. Everyone has flaws, Maureen. Nobody's perfect."

"But I never do anything right! ...this would just be adding to the list."

"Tell me what isn't right about this relationship." Joanne demanded.

"The fact that it's adultery."

"Are you married to Mark?" Joanne questioned.

"No, but-"

"Then it's not adultery, Mo."

Maureen stopped for a second, trying to find something else..but she couldn't find anything.

"You can fix the fact that Mark doesn't know, and then everything in this relationship would be right!" Joanne encouraged, her hands roaming Maureen's body until she found her lower waist, pulling her closer.

"It-" Maureen was cut off by a kiss from Joanne. "This-still-isn't-right-in my-parent's eyes-" Maureen said, in between kisses.

Joanne stopped for a moment, saying, "I understand why you want your parents' approval, Maureen, I do. But...It's your life, not theirs." She began planting sweet kisses all over Maureen again but Maureen kept talking.

"I'm their only daughter," she breathed out. "Their only child."

"...then they should be proud of you, no matter what you do." Joanne said thoughtfully, before whispering, "I know I am."

Maureen finally gave in to everything. Gave in to the conversation, gave in to Joanne's need for affection, all of it. Her body stopped shaking, because they stopped the discussion at hand. In fact, they didn't carry on any conversation at all, for the rest of the night. Joanne kept her promise that she wouldn't say a word until Maureen was comfortable with it. The only problem that Joanne had with this, was she was afraid that Maureen would never be comfortable with it. Her friends would understand. Mark would understand. Eventually, Maureen's parents would understand too-Joanne's had, even though it took a while for them to warm up to the idea, and they were still in the process of doing so.

She woke up in Joanne's bed, and curled up against her was Joanne. For a moment she just lay there, enjoying life and everything about love and it's miracles. She looked at Jo, who was sleeping peacefully, her head resting near Maureen's chest. Maureen rubbed Joanne's bare shoulder and sat up, her eye catching the time on the digital alarm clock and freaking out, ripping the sheets off of her and throwing on her clothes as fast as she could.

Joanne awoke with a start, flipping herself around so that her words were muffled into the pillow. "Wassamatter?" she asked sleepily.

"I'm late!" was Maureen's frantic response.

"I don't think he'll care that you fell asleep over here, Maureen."

"It's his birthday tomorrow, Jo." Maureen told her. "I was supposed to go back last night and start to get things ready. We're celebrating tomorrow night. I'm sure you could come..."

"No, no." Joanne sat up and motioned for Maureen to come towards her. Maureen did, so Joanne could fix her hair for her. She ran a brush through the matted mess and continued to talk. "We don't want to ruin his birthday with me being there."

"You're one of his friends, Joanne. He won't mind. He'll probably be happy that he has more than three people to celebrate with."

"How old is he turning?"

"22."

Joanne sighed and wrapped the white comforter around her chocolate body. It was a nice contrast, Maureen had decided. "Talk to him about it first, then call me."

Maureen nodded and kissed Joanne lovingly, warmly, passionately, before running out the door. "Love you!" she called behind her.

"Love you too!" Joanne said, but Maureen was already gone. Joanne gave a groan and flopped herself back down onto the bed, pulling the covers up over her head dramatically.


	6. Secret Keeping

**My favorite chapter so far. I had a lot of fun writing this. All rights go to Jonathan Larson... and...yeah. Enjoy. Review. :) **

**_Ch. 6: Secret Keeping:_**

The three friends, Mo, Jo, and Mark, sat at a table at a nearby cafe a little unlike the Life. Roger had moved out of the apartment and was now living with April, but they saw him at his shows when his band, The Well Hungarians, played at the nearby performance lot, where Maureen also often performed. Mark, Maureen, and Joanne all talked like they were great friends. If only Mark actually knew what was going on...

But every time Maureen tried to tell him, something came up! Like, he kissed her and made her feel awful. Or, Roger showed up and crashed the party. Or...she just couldn't find the strength to do it.

"So Benny bought out our apartment," Mark told Joanne, striking a conversation.

"No way!" she demanded.

"Way," Mark rolled his eyes. "Yeah he's been trying to force us to pay an extra thirty dollars in rent, which, neither Maureen nor myself can afford... God, he's being so...ignorant! We used to be friends, what the heck happened?!"

"His dreams turned into obsessions and they got in the way of his vision," Joanne explained. "It happens to the best of us."

"Hey, Joanne, before I forget...My birthday's tomorrow-"

"Maureen told me. Happy Birthday," she smiled.

"Thanks," Mark said. "You want to come over and celebrate with us tomorrow night? You're more than welcome to..."

"Sure," Joanne said. "I'd like that, thanks."

"No problem. The more friends to celebrate with, the better."

There was silence after that, and Joanne cleared her throat towards Maureen, obviously wanting her to tell him now, but Maureen shook her head, and Joanne sighed. Mark apparently caught on to none of this. Goodness, he was blind. Blinded by his love for Maureen. He didn't think her capable of causing him pain.

_'I'm so sorry, Mark' _both of the girls thought. _'Please, don't hate her!' _Joanne thought separately.

With the absence of sound, Mark got out his camera and started playing with the film. He then wound it up and hit record, Maureen's beautiful face plastered about the screen.

"Say hello girls!"

"Hello girls!" Maureen and Joanne chorused.

Mark laughed, filming the scene that surrounded them. The cafe was on a street corner near lower Manhattan. The weather was absolutely wonderful- the sun shining, and very few clouds filled the sky. The sidewalks were absolutely cluttered with busy people, rushing around to their jobs, or, as Joanne was at that exact time, on lunch break.

Mark put the camera away and kissed Maureen full on the lips, warmly and passionately. Maureen let him, pretending to kiss him back. It wasn't really awkward, to be honest, until Maureen caught the stunned look on Joanne's face.

"Maureen," Joanne said, knowing she was interrupting and happy to be doing so.

Mark broke away from Maureen, so she could answer.

"Yeah..?" Maureen asked, tentatively.

"Oh," Joanne said casually. "Nothing really, there was just, you know, a filmmaker on your face. But, don't worry-it's gone now."

Despite the fact that Joanne had just made him stop kissing on his girlfriend, Mark laughed and playfully shoved Joanne backwards. Maureen uncomfortably shifted in her seat, playing with the fray on her shirt. Joanne grinned, and then looked down at her watch. The grin she wore turned into a grimace as she tilted her head back with a groan.

"I'm really sorry, you guys, but...I have to go, or my boss with kill me."

She gave Maureen a sad smile and kissed her cheek. Mark also gained a kiss from Joanne and the couple hugged the lawyer as she put on her jacket and rushed out of the doors of the Cafe, flustered and wishing that Maureen was all hers. She didn't think anyone could blame her for wanting Maureen so badly. The devil himself would be tempted by her beauty and her charm! As Joanne caught the subway to "Jefferson and Co." she wondered if Mark was aching as much as she was. It was only an afterthought that she realized he already thought he had Maureen completely, therefore wouldn't be aching to have all of her as Joanne was so badly.

Her hands opened the front door to her office and she sat down, defeated. She somehow managed to find the folders for the case she was working on, though she didn't have much recollection of how she had gotten them out of the filing cabinet, because she couldn't remember doing so. She couldn't get her mind off of the situation. It was exhausting.

Her eyes found the sign that read "Jefferson and Co."; the name of the company she worked for, and she laughed remembering the look on Maureen's face when she found out that Joanne's father owned the company. "You're rich?" Maureen had said. "No, honey, not rich. Not by any means. But I have some money..." Joanne had told her. "Woah." was Maureen's reply, holding Joanne close. For the rest of the day she tried to clear her head and think about anything-anyone, besides Maureen.

Even as she was leaving work to go home, she still thought about that diva.

Later that night, there was a knock on Joanne's door. Surprised, because she wasn't expecting anybody in particular, she opened it and there stood none other than her lovely girlfriend, a smile on her face.

"Hi!" Maureen said, excited.

"Hi.." Joanne laughed, pulling Maureen into a tight embrace. "What are you doing here?"

Maureen shrugged. "Mark went out with Roger and I wanted to see you..."

"Aww, you wanted to see me too?" Joanne said. "I couldn't keep my mind off of you all day," she admitted.

"Funny. I couldn't keep my mind off me either," Maureen joked. Joanne gave her a condescending look. "Ohh, Joanne, I couldn't keep my mind off of you either." she amended, closing the front door behind her. "You're apartment space is so beautiful!" she exclaimed. Even though she had been over multiple times, it's beauty and giant frame had never once ceased to amuse Maureen.

"It could be yours too, you know," Joanne said softly. "But that's up to you."

"I was planning on telling him tonight-"

"You've been saying that for the past three months, Maureen." Joanne said, almost annoyed with her. "When are you REALLY going to tell him?"

"Well, maybe not tonight...I mean, tomorrow's his birthday..."

Joanne was looking skeptical, so Maureen changed the subject-something she was good at when she wanted to avoid the situation.

"Hey," Maureen said suddenly. "Go for a walk with me."

Joanne continued to stare her down, trying to read her, but as usual, failing the attempt.

"Please," Maureen added, a little nicer and smaller this time she spoke.

Joanne sighed, knowing she could never stay mad at Maureen for long. She ruffled the diva's hair and put on her coat, slipping her hand into Maureen's, warmly before saying, "Alright, you win. Where do you want to walk to?"

"Anywhere, as long as you're here." Maureen said. The two girls walked out of the apartment door, leaving all worries behind them as the door slammed shut.

...

"So where did Mark and Roger run off to so late?" Joanne asked Maureen about an hour later. They were casually strolling, arm in arm, down Avenue A. Joanne had bought cappuccinos, one for herself, and one for Maureen. Maureen, who normally only ever got black coffee, (because she couldn't afford anything else,) looked at the cappuccino oddly, forever questioning it's existence, before taking an experimental sip and perking up at the taste of it. "This is freaking incredible!" she had said, which, of course, made Joanne burst into a fit of laughter.

"Dunno," Maureen mumbled, half of her cappuccino already gone. "Probably went off the the Cat Scratch Club or something..."

Joanne gave Maureen an amazed look. "You _let_ him go there? It's a strip club!"

"If we were actually together, the circumstances would be different," Maureen explained. "But considering I'm with you..."

"But Mark doesn't know that," Joanne reminded her, as if she needed more reminding. "So technically, the circumstances are the same for him. I mean...to him, it's like the two of you are going strong...right?"

"Well, I don't know, I haven't been as close to him as I used to. Maybe he's starting to catch on..."

"Well, good." Joanne said. "It'll save you less hardship later."

At this, Maureen winced.

"Maureen," Joanne warned. "You told me you were going to tell him! Quit procrastinating, honey, and just do it! Haven't you ever broken up with anybody before?!"

Maureen didn't answer her, looking down at the ground. A single tear fell from her eye and splashed onto the cold, dirty concrete. As Joanne talked, her breath came out in little puffy clouds-that's how cold it was outside. You could definitely tell that November was starting to hit full swing.

"Help me," Maureen begged. "I can't do this alone!"

Joanne, feeling sympathy and pity for her lost girlfriend, wrapped her arms around Maureen and said, "Come on, let's keep you warm..."

They had to go through an alley to get back to Joanne's place. As they cut through the dark, narrow space, Maureen found an opportunity and took it. She lightly pushed Joanne back, up against the brick wall of the alley way, and kissed her like she never had before. Her hands got tangled in Joanne's oh-so-curly hair and Maureen sighed at how warm her girlfriend was. Maureen herself was utterly freezing; wearing the only jacket she owned. It was a white fake-leather jacket that barely reached her waist, and it kept her warm enough in October, but as the cool, November air began to come around, Maureen let out a shiver. She kissed Joanne again, almost hungrily, before breaking away from her and saying, for the first time between them,

"I love you."

Joanne held Maureen tightly, her hands around her waist, a little up under her shirt, even. "I love you too, Maureen." she replied. Her hands were warm, and Maureen loved it.

Roger stood around the corner, jaw dropped open in shock. This couldn't be the Maureen he knew. No...the Maureen _he_ knew was completely in love with Mark. She also wasn't a lesbian. But this girl that was kissing on the woman that looked to be her friend Joanne, looked just like Maureen. Her name was also Maureen. After about five minutes, he realized his mouth was still open and was now completely dried out. He closed it and waited for his best friend's girlfriend to admit her lesbianism to him. He waited for her and Joanne to escape the alleyway, which, in fact, took another ten minutes of secret kisses and swoons before they finally broke away from each other, took each other's hands, and walked back onto the normal sidewalk, giggling and talkative.

Maureen screamed and jumped back when she saw Roger, obviously not expecting him to even be in the city.

"What the_ hell_?!" she demanded. "I thought you were out with Mark! What are you doing here?!"

Joanne had a concerned look on her face. She was frightened for Maureen.

"Mo, can I ask you something?" Roger asked, calmly at first.

"Sure..."

"Why were you just kissing your friend Joanne?" he asked her in a questioning tone. "Hello, Joanne." he added towards her. Joanne nodded in response, clearly shocked.

"How much of that did you see?!" Maureen said, practically horrified.

"All of it," Roger admitted, clearly wishing that he didn't see _any_ of it.

"I-um...we...we're close?" Maureen stuttered.

"Nice try." Roger said. "Why didn't you tell me sooner that you were a lesbian?!"

"Shh!" Maureen said, spinning her head around to make sure no one heard. "God, could you be a little louder? I don't think the people at the hospital- in a coma- quite heard you..."

Roger rolled his eyes. "What about Mark?" he demanded, giving Maureen a glare of pure hatred.

Maureen's heart felt like it had stopped. She couldn't feel it beating anymore."Where is Mark?" she asked, her voice soft and scared.

"He's at home." Roger said icily. "Waiting for his _girlfriend_ to come back to the apartment."

"I-he-doesn't know, yet..."

"Obviously! This is not right! You can't be with two people at once! Especially when one is a MAN and the other is a WOMAN! -and since WHEN are you a lesbian?! You couldn't have just TOLD MARK about ANY of this?! How could you DO THIS TO HIM?!-"

"HEY! Back off of her!" Joanne requested. "She's been trying the best she can to come clean! It's not easy for her to just come out like that, cut her a little slack! She still loves Mark and she doesn't know what to do!"

"How long have you two been together?" Roger asked, feeling defeated. His best friend was going to be crushed.

"Three months," Maureen rasped out. Roger spun around and started to walk away.

"Rog, wait!" she pleaded, tears threatening to spill. "I was planning on telling him soon!"

"Save it, Mo." he said.

"No, she really was!" Joanne said. "Give her three days!"

He stopped in his tracks. "Why? She's already had three _months! _The Maureen Johnson I thought I knew, was honest."

"The Maureen Johnson that you thought you knew is _bisexual_, Roger, and she's in a full and committed relationship and has been for a while!" Maureen spat at him.

"With Mark!"

"With Joanne!"

"And you didn't even tell me then? How long have you known you were lesbian, Mo?"

"A-a few years..."

"And you've been with Mark all this time...using him as a beard?" Roger spewed. "I'm telling Mark. Now."

"No, Roger, please!" she pleaded with him, tears pouring down her face. "Nobody knows except for you and Joanne! My parents don't know! Mark doesn't know! Collins doesn't even know! I'm not ready for them to know yet! It's his birthday tomorrow, don't screw that up for him!"

"You haven't even told YOUR OWN best friend, Collins? Wow, Okay Mo, I can see friendship means a whole lot to you, doesn't it? Clearly, you have this all under control." the satire was practically oozing from his mouth.

"Honey, it's time." Joanne tried to calm a hyperventilating Maureen down. "It'll be okay, I promise."

Maureen shook her head frantically, trying to breathe right. "Where am I supposed to go when Mark kicks me out?" she questioned, tears still falling. She was shaking uncontrollably, a nervous sweat dripping down her forehead. Her hands couldn't find anything to do, so they started scratching at her own arms in panic.

Joanne made an attempt to clear Maureen's face of the tears, and stop her from tearing her arms up as well."You'll live with me, of course."

"But-I just...Don't tell him, Roger please!" Maureen's voice broke, and she crumbled into Joanne's open arms, unable to keep herself up any longer.

But Roger was already gone, his silhouette dancing in the street lights as he made his way towards the apartment that Maureen and Mark used to share. Because they wouldn't be sharing it for much longer.

...

He couldn't believe that dyke, playing his best friend like a toy. She was only using him as a cover up for herself. Her lesbian self. -and she had the nerve to claim that she "loved him"? Roger had enough experience listening to that bull crap to understand that she may love him as a friend, but apparently not enough to tell him the truth. Roger thought about his relationship with April for a second though. What if he were in this situation, and April was the "other woman" as opposed to Joanne...

But no. No matter how much he loved April he couldn't bring himself to even think of not telling his best friend the truth. He had thought that obviously, Maureen was closer to Mark than he was, given the fact that Mark and Maureen were in a relationship. Apparently all of his thoughts were wrong. Shows what he knew, doesn't it?

_'Maureen had better tell him tonight,' _Roger thought menacingly. _'If she doesn't, things are going to get messy. I'll do whatever I can to exploit her secret. Mark deserves to know. But it's not my secret to tell...so I'll have to be sneaky about it.' _

Already, Roger was planning ways to out her without just coming out and saying it. Mark would never believe him if he tried to just say it anyways. He needed proof. He needed to show Mark what Maureen was. It wasn't that he thought her being a lesbian was a bad thing. It's just that lying IS a bad thing, and so is cheating, and he cared about the word "friendship".


	7. Mark Turns 22

**I really like this chapter, and it was my sisters favorite, because she thought it was funny. :D Please review and tell me what you think about this story! :) Do you think Roger's plan will ever work? Let me know! I don't own anything. All rights go to Jonathan Larson 3 ~~hayleynymphadora**

* * *

Chapter 7. Mark Turns 22:

Maureen had Mark's birthday present stashed in the closet, wrapped up and locked away so he couldn't find it. It wasn't much-some new lenses for his camera, a few rolls of film, and a new scarf-but it was all she could afford at the time. Plus, it was all he'd ever wanted besides her. Maureen's heart thudded and she opened the front door of the apartment, quiet, making sure she didn't wake him. She had crashed at Joanne's again last night, and she had to keep reminding herself not to go over there at night anymore.

To her utter surprise, he was already awake. She checked the clock again-maybe it wasn't that surprising that Mark was awake at 8:00 a.m, he normally _was_ awake before she was.

"Hey, Reena." he smiled.

Maureen kissed him and gave him a very tight hug. "Happy Birthday, Pookie!" she said happily. She ran to the closet and pulled out his present. "Close your eyes." she instructed him.

"Okay..." he said hesitantly. Before she handed him his present, because his eyes were closed, she sneaked in a long, drawn out kiss that meant almost nothing to her after the kisses Joanne was handing out last night. But Mark took it happily, his eyes slowly opening. Maureen set his gift down on his lap. "Sorry i'm late," she whispered. "We fell asleep."

Mark gave a small smile. "It's okay. You're here now."

Her guilt started to kick in. "-I would have been home sooner, but-"

"Mo, honey, it's fine, truly." he said to her. "It's not like you were off cheating on me or anything. You were at a Joanne's house, chill. I'm fine." he gave her a kiss on the cheek and opened his present from her, a widespread grin appearing on his face.

"You like it?" Maureen was hopeful.

"I love it! Thank you!" Mark said, kissing her again while fixing the scarf around his neck and checking out the new lenses, fastening them onto his camera and testing them out.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you more," she admitted the one thing that wouldn't hurt her to admit.

"This is all I need. I have this, I have you, and everything's perfect." Mark said to her.

"Oh, your parent's called, by the way," Mark said to her later as they were setting up for the party. Maureen felt like Mark had just cut her with a knife.

"They did?" Maureen tried to play it off. "That's interesting..."

"You haven't seen them in ages, they wanted to make sure you were okay. They wanted to come over sometime, too. I told them Wednesday would work, if that's okay with you."

Wednesday...Wednesday...The day sounded familiar. Oh! She was supposed to go out with Joanne on Wednesday... well, maybe Joanne could come over here or something. It's ridiculous that Mark couldn't see them together, as long as there was no romantic displays of affection while around him, right? Maybe she could tell everyone then...Joanne would help her...

"Yeah, that's...that's fine." Maureen said, tying up the balloon she had just filled and kicking it off to the side. She started on another one and Mark stopped decorating for a minute to look at her. She had a look of pure trepidation on her face. What was up with her?

"Are you afraid of your parents or something?" Mark gave a little laugh.

_'Only that they'll disown me,' _Maureen thought to herself. Aloud, she laughed with Mark. "No, of course not. Why would you think that?"

Mark shook his head, "No reason," he shrugged, finding it difficult to take his eyes off of her.

She could feel him staring, and she had a feeling she knew why. Her shirt was half way unbuttoned down the top, her chest practically falling out, because all she did when she left this morning was pull it over her head, she hadn't thought about buttoning it. Her pants were a little tighter than usual-she had a feeling she had grabbed Joanne's by mistake, for, she did have a pair similar to Maureen's black skinny jeans-they outlined her butt in a way that Mark thought was sexy. Self conciously, Maureen buttoned up her shirt the rest of the way and threw on one of Mark's sweatshirts. Mark gave her a dissapointed look, but she shrugged as if she didn't do anything to cover herself up on purpose. "I'm cold," she said casually.

Mark narrowed his eyes at her and smiled. She did absolutely nothing in return, knowing that this was going to be a long night.

Maureen wore the only dress she owned-Collins had bought it for her years ago, a year after they had first met. It was fairly short-didn't quite reach her knees. It was a black, strapless number with little traces of silver designs around her waist and hips. It wasn't quite skin tight, but it fit the form of her body nicely, and she knew that Mark loved it on her. She couldn't help but wonder what Joanne's reaction would be. She used up the last of her makeup that she owned, knowing that she wouldn't be getting much more for a while, unless she went busking later in the week or did a double show. _'Even that might not be enough' _she thought to herself as she applied the last of her mascara to her medium-length lashes. The only color of eyeshadow she had left was black. She sighed and put it on anyways, hoping it didn't make her look too...gothic. When she was done getting ready, she put on her birthstone ring, given to her by her mother, straightened her hair for the first time in a long time, and left the bathroom feeling glamourus.

Mark's jaw dropped when he saw his girlfriend._ 'She cleans up so well...'_ his mind reeled with thoughts of only her. She gave him a faint smile and kissed his cheek as she walked by. Mark couldn't help but feel that they were getting more distant than they ever were before. He knew he had to fix that, somehow. But not now-everyone would be there in a few moment's time. Including Roger, whom Maureen had talked into showing up, though she regretted it.

Collins was the first to come home, and Joanne was the next to show up, ( Maureen had to refrain from throwing herself at her. Instead, she gave her a hug,) "Glad you could come!" she said happily.

"Me too," Joanne grinned at her girlfriend, trying to hide that magical glimmer that she normally got when she looked at Maureen Johnson. But tonight Mo looked stunning, and Joanne couldn't take her eyes off of her, even if it would save her life.

"You're gorgeous!" Joanne gushed. "As always," she added, looking Maureen up and down. Mark assumed it was just a girl thing-to gush over pretty clothes.

"Thank you so much!" Maureen smiled. "I love this dress."

"It looks fantastic on you, truly, hon-Mo." Joanne set her gift for Mark in the living room. She was lucky she saved herself-she almost called Maureen "honeybear". Before Mark had time to ask any questions, Roger was at the door, and the party had officially begun.

Maureen popped open a bottle of champagne, and poured glasses for everyone. Collins kept chanting, "toast!toast!toast!" and so, Maureen stood up on the table, fixed her hair, and began to talk.

"Fine, I guess I'll propose a toast," Maureen flashed Mark a grin. "To my wonderful and very adorable boyfriend, who is another year older. We made it, baby! It's been six years since the day we met, today! It's hard to believe, isn't it? That time flies by so fast...and then, before you know it, it's gone. Let's make the rest of our lives count for something." she held up her glass and grinned. "Happy Birthday, Pookie! I love you!"

"Awww!" Collins called. "That's so sweet!"

"CHEERS!" Maureen grinned, drinking the whole glass in a swipe.

"CHEERS!" the friends echoed, following her lead. She stepped off of the table and Mark kissed her ear. "That was very adorable, Reena, Thank you," he said to her.

The friends sat in the living room, chatting and laughing, and just having pure fun. Maureen sat on the couch in between Collins and Mark, Joanne and Roger had seperate seats facing the others.

"You know, Maureen," Joanne said. "I've never seen your hair straightened like that before. I love it."

Maureen grinned. "You do? Thank you! I like it too...I'm thinking of doing it more often..." Mark started playing with her newly found straightened hair, and she let him. Joanne kept smiling along with the others, trying to blend in. But SHE wanted to be the one playing with Maureen's hair. Not him.

"So what do you guys want to do?" Mark asked. "I'm a lame host, I have nothing planned."

The group laughed. "Why don't we play truth or dare?" Roger suggested, evil thoughts of exploitition entering his mind. Maureen and Joanne didn't think anything of it, at the time.

"You mean like a bunch of teenagers?" Collins laughed.

Roger shrugged. "Eh, why not? We have nothing better to do. It's all in good fun."

So they agreed. Everyone moved the chairs back and got in a circle on the floor.

"Ok, so...who's going first?" Maureen asked Roger.

"Um... Mark, truth or dare?" he said to his best friend. Mark was taken aback, obviously, he didn't think he would be picked to go first.

"Truth?" Mark said.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how hot do you think your girlfriend looks tonight?"

Mark didn't even look at Maureen, "Can I pick a number higher than ten?" Mark asked. "Like 100?"

Maureen laughed and kissed his cheek. "Aww, you're such a suck up," she fake swooned. Everyone laughed, including Joanne, who couldn't help herself.

"Reena, truth or dare?" Mark said.

"Um...truth."

"Wimp." Roger muttered, though Maureen hardly heard him.

"If you had to kiss one of the other guys in this room, besides me, which one would you pick?"

"Easy. Collins." she said automaticallly.

"But I'm gay," Collins pointed out.

"Yeah, but i'm NOT kissing Roger." Maureen said.

Roger shrugged. "Like i'd want to be kissed by the Drama Queen anyways..." he mumbled.

"Coll, Truth or Dare?" Mo asked him.

"Dare," Collins grinned.

"Mmmkay...I dare you to down that entire bottle of champagne over there." Maureen said. Mark gave her a look and she shrugged innocently. "If he gets drunk, then he gets drunk. Besides, drunk Collins is fun."

Collins _did _down the whole rest of the bottle, (which was really only half) and then shuddered as it slid down his throat. "There, Mo." he said. "Happy?"

"Very." Maureen laughed.

"Good. Joanne, truth or dare?"

"Truth." she replied simply.

"Do you ever NOT wear Doc Martens?" he asked her merely as a question, though he figured she needed to take a turn, so why not use it as a truth?

Joanne gave a laugh. "Nope. Always Doc Martens. All the time. Roger, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you not to touch your guitar until I go home." Joanne said, just to see if he could do it.

Roger slowly put the guitar he was tuning down. "Fine." he muttered. "Maureen, truth or dare?" if she didn't pick dare this time, he was going to hit her.

"Dare," she decided.

"I dare you to go and kiss Joanne, full on the lips, like you would kiss Mark."

Maureen's face was set and white. "Why would I do that? she asked, trying not to show the fact that she was shaking from head to toe.

"Because I dared you to," Roger said with a stone cold expression, glaring into her eyes.

Maureen was afraid she wouldn't be able to stop once she started.

"Come on, girls, lets see a kiss!" Collins joked. If only he knew...

Joanne and Maureen both stood up, facing each other.

"We gonna fake it?" Maureen muttered so only Joanne could hear.

"Nah, let's give Roger what he wants," Joanne said, just as quietly.

"You're only saying that because you want to kiss me so badly," Maureen teased.

"Maybe..."

"I don't see any kissing going on!" Collins called, laughing. "Kiss her!"

So Maureen did. But not like she would kiss Mark. Better than she would kiss Mark. She could taste the champagne on Joanne's lips and her stomach flipped to think that Mark was watching this. But Joanne's sweet body...Maureen didn't want to let that go. They broke apart after about ten seconds and sat back down, refusing to look at each other.

At first the room was silent, because nobody really knew what to think. Then Collins cheered and everyone started laughing. Even Mark, who, didn't think anything of it.

_'Damn' _Roger thought. _'All that did was put Maureen in a nervous position. Mark was uneffected by it.'_

The game went on, and each time it came to Roger he got Maureen, trying to crack her secret and expose her. Each time, she was one step ahead of him, finally figuring out why he wanted to play truth or dare to begin with. Roger was going to be the one to end her relationship with Mark. She just knew it.

"Maureen, who's a better kisser, Joanne, or Mark?" Roger asked her next time her turn came around.

Maureen pretended to ponder this, "I don't know," she teased both Mark and Joanne. "They're both pretty good..." Collins gave a laugh. He was so wasted... "Ermm...I have to say Mark, but only because it's his birthday," Maureen decided, giving him and impish grin.

"Hey now!" Mark said, holding Maureen close.

"Sorry,Jo!" Maureen meant it as a joking apology to everyone else, but Joanne knew she meant it as legit to her.

"That's alright," Joanne smiled. "He is your boyfriend, after all..."

The night carried on like that, and Roger never did regain the upper hand, no matter how hard he tried. Joanne went home eventually, and. Maureen slept in bed next to Mark, wishing that Joanne was there instead. She knew that Roger wouldn't quit until she was outed. For a minute, she came close to just telling everybody, but that fear growing deep down inside of her just wouldn't let her do it.


	8. Drummers and Strippers

**I know, I know, shortest chapter EVER. But I PROMISE I'll make it up with the next chapter, which is fairly long, and one of my favorites for this story. :D I felt that, though it's Maureen's story, the readers should be able to know what's going on in Angel and Mimi's lives right now, considering you'll see some more of them as the story progresses.**

**Note: I don't really know what happened with Angel's parent situation, or much of Angel's story at all, so a lot of this chapter is improvising 101. **

**The emotions and feelings towards religious belief in this chapter are the thoughts of Angel, not of anyone else. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Tell me what you think. Anything you want to see more of? Less of? Any questions? Comments? Let me know! ~~hayleynymphadora**

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**_Ch. 8:Drummers and Strippers_**

It was scary, not knowing how much time you had left. Angel tried his very best to make each day count for something, but...sometimes it just didn't seem like anything he ever did was enough.

He had taken it hard, when his parents had died. He was 17 at the time, and though his mother and father didn't always completely agree with the way Angel lived, they had always showed support and love. A fatal car crash just when Angel felt he needed his parents most, seemed brutally unfair. Oh, but Angel knew that God worked in mysterious ways, and he put all of his faith that he had left in his life, in to the Lord above.

Some people told Angel that it wasn't right to be gay and believe/put energy, faith, and love into the Lord. But Angel couldn't disagree more. God's love is eternal, right? Everlasting? Undying? Therefore, Angel had a right to believe that, no matter how many times he screwed up in life, God still loved him. That as long as he trusted Him and loved Him with all of his heart and soul, things would be alright...Angel had to believe that. It was all he had left to live by.

When Angel's parents died, he sort of lost himself. He got into parties. Smoking. Sex. All of which he now loathed himself for. Sure, he had quit smoking, and parties were limited. But the unprotected sex left a scar that Angel now had to bare the rest of his life. It have given him AIDS. A burden that had to be carried until his last days, which were now very slim. He had asked God multiple times to be forgiven of his rampage, not knowing whether God was listening, or if He even cared. But he couldn't let himself think that He wasn't the forgiving type, or his soul would become lost again-something he NEVER EVER wanted to happen.

He strutted down the Avenue (it was B tonight-he had played Avenue A the night before, and the crowd was few). He didn't have his wig and heels tonight, but he had his pickle tub and drumsticks, which was all he really need for now, and would have to do.

Sitting down at the corner, he started drumming out a rhythm. After mere seconds, he didn't have to think of the beat anymore-it just carried itself through the graffitied, cold streets. As he drummed, people watched, and people passed, occasionally dropping a quarter or two. He sighed, knowing it was better than nothing, as he continued to let the music pulse through him, not even noticing Mimi's sudden appearance.

"Sounding pretty good, chico." Angel heard the voice of his best friend and decided to look up.

"Mimi," Angel gave her a smile, his voice melting the hearts of millions.

"What do you think you're doing out here, anyways?" Mimi asked, with a hand on her hip. "It's freezing out here, Ange!"

"Trying to make a living," Angel stated simply, never stopping his comfortable beat. "And you?"

Mimi tilted her head back towards the building she just walked out of. Her workplace, the Cat Scratch Club.

"Same," she muttered. "You know, i could probably get you a job, if you'd like. Cat Scratch Club is hiring..."

"A male stripper at Cat Scratch?" Angel smiled doubtedly. "Good luck with that one, Marquez."

Mimi gave a small shrug. "C'mon, Angel! With your wig, dress, and heels, who'll know the difference?"

Though Angel knew that the idea was ludicrous, and would absolutely never work in a billion years, the job offer was tempting. He hadn't had a real job in...well since his "rampage". He was 20 now, and drumming wasn't particularly cutting his rent payments anymore.

Eventually, Angel just gave Mimi a "thanks anyways" glance. "Black leather and lace isn't really my style, Marquez. Thanks though."

Mimi dropped the subject, not wanting to upset Angel. It seemed like he was having a pretty crappy day all by himself, without her nosy help being needed. She pulled her long black mess of hair back away from her glitter-covered face and opened her mouth to speak again.

"You going to that show tonight?" she asked.

Angel stopped drumming for the night, coming up with a grand total of $10.00. He gave a wince. He had definitely done better the night before, down Avenue A. He'd go back there tomorrow. Or, perhaps, the subway station would be a better choice. More people passed by there.

"I was thinking about it," Angel replied. "Why, are you going?"

"I will, if you will."

Angel gave one of his flash-in-the-pan grins and said, simply, "Well, then, girlfriend, we'd better get a move on, before we're late!"

And on they went, towards the performance lot between Avenue's A and B.

Mimi and Angel had been friends since Angel was 18. They had clicked instantly, and hadn't left each other's sides since, except for when they slept, (in seperate apartments, across the tent city) and when Angel went to Life Support.

He had tried talking Mimi into going with him on numerous occasions, (Mimi had AIDS too, it just wasn't acquired the same way-Mimi was a druggie). But every time he begged, Mimi found another excuse not to go. She claimed she was "busy". Angel personally thought that she was just scared.


	9. Eddie and Nancy Johnson

**One of my longer and one of my favorite chapters. (Though I seem to have a lot of favorites with this story... xD I love RENT.) I still don't own RENT, or any of the characters. Maureen gets ready for her performance, her parents come to see her for the day, tensions between Joanne and Mark get tighter (not to Mark's noticing, of course), and the flirting between Maureen and Joanne gets a little too reckless. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Tell me what you think! xo~~hayleynymphadora**

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**_Chapter.9 Eddie and Nancy Johnson:_**

It was Wednesday-the day that Maureen was dreading most of all. One part of her was happy. She had a performance tonight, and she was about to earn money, (hopefully) because of that. But her parents were coming over today, which Maureen was wishing to avoid. They were to hang out with Mark, Maureen, Collins, Roger, and Joanne all day, go to Maureen's performance, hang out with them at the apartment for a little while afterwards, and then go home. Mark was gone for the morning-he went to a Life Support meeting with Collins, but he would be back in time for Maureen's parents to show up. Finding another opportunity to spend time together, Maureen and Joanne sat on the couch in Maureen's apartment, not doing much of anything except for talking and laughing with each other, each drinking hot coffee to keep themselves warm. The heat bill had finally been paid-halfway. Therefore, they still had almost no heat whatsoever. It didn't really bother either girl much though, because it just meant they had to sit closer to each other to keep each other comfortable, and not let each other freeze.

"I'm performing tonight," Maureen told Joanne happily. It would be her first performance for the month, and she desperately needed the money.

"I know," Joanne grinned. "...and I can't wait to hear your talented voice again..."

"So you're coming?" Maureen's heart leapt. She loved singing for Joanne. She loved doing anything for Joanne.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I come?" Joanne said, pulling Maureen into a tight embrace, after which she kissed her girlfriend passionately. Their bliss probably would have continued, too, if someone hadn't walked through the door and ruined the moment. They broke apart as quickly as they could, but it wasn't quick enough. Collins stood there, jaw dropped, and Roger walked in behind him.

"What's your problem, Collins?" Roger asked, but then, seeing Maureen and Joanne's faces turn a deep red out of embarrassment, he understood. "Oh, that? Yeah. I know, right?"

"You knew?!" Collins said to him, amazed.

Roger shrugged, tossing his coat off to the side. "Caught them in the alley a few weeks ago. I think they wanted to get caught."

Maureen's face got even more red. "Did not!" she said. Collins had a hurt look on his face. "Coll, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was going to, but-"

"What stopped you?"

Suddenly a dark thought dawned on Maureen. "Where's Mark?"

"Store," Roger answered, tuning his guitar and playing a small riff.

"Collins, I was scared to tell anybody." Maureen continued, playing with the fray on her shirt.

"Even me? Mo, I've known you for six years!"

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry, but it's just...I was worried that my parents would-and then Mark would just-Mark..."

All of a sudden Maureen felt dizzy, as if she were falling from an obnoxious height-plummeting to her death-a free fall. Her whole world seemed to be crumbling down, and she didn't know where to turn. Even _she _couldn't explain why she didn't want to tell anybody about her sexuality. Why did it matter to anyone else? True, the lifestyle did effect Mark somewhat...She slowly rocked backward and Joanne was right there to catch her.

"No you don't," Joanne said, fanning Maureen. "Come on, stand straight now..."

"Ha. Straight." Roger scoffed. "Good one."

Joanne gave him a scowl. "Don't you have somewhere to be?!" she demanded, fixing Maureen's shirt for her and making sure she was okay again.

"Yeah. Here." Roger answered. "Besides, you just want me to leave so you can have another one of your not-so-secret make out sessions," he added coldly. Joanne had about had enough. She kissed Maureen's cheek lightly and threw her coat on her shoulders.

"You're leaving?!" Maureen asked, hurt. "Don't go, baby, I'm sorry-"

Collins still stood there, awaiting a clearer explanation, yet seemingly not getting one at the present time. The way Maureen had called Joanne "baby" struck him as odd. He hadn't heard her use that tone of voice to anyone since she first laid eyes on Mark so many years ago. Collins looked into Maureen's eyes and could tell that she was deeply in love with this woman. He couldn't help but give a small smile.

"No, no. It's not your fault." Joanne looked at Roger briefly and then muttered something that sounded along the lines of, "I have to do something for work, anyways. I'll see you at your show tonight." and she was out the door before anyone could say anything else. Maureen wanted to cry.

"Do you see what you've done?!" she demanded, putting her own coat on so she could chase after her love.

"All I did was solve your problem. Now you only have one significant other. You're welcome," Roger said, sitting down in one of the chairs. Maureen huffed and buttoned up her coat. She was about to flee out the door after Joanne, but Collins interrupted her storm out.

"Mark doesn't even know?" he asked quietly.

Maureen shook her head sadly. "Not yet." she admitted.

"When?"

"Soon." she promised, not even bothering to shut the door behind her.

Roger gave Collins a disgusted look. "You going to buy that? She's been promising me she would tell Mark for weeks now. She's been promising Joanne for three months-"

"Why don't you just tell Mark yourself?" Collins asked, though he knew that he wouldn't have done so either.

"You think he would believe something like that? Be my guest and tell him." Roger invited Collins to do what he had been dying to do for weeks.

Collins shrugged and sat down. Roger had a point. But Maureen was his best friend, and he would never out her like that. Being gay himself, he knew how hard it was to come clean. It wasn't as bad as an issue for him though. Sure, his parents had kicked him out for it and banished him from seeing them ever again. But if Mo lost her parents because of that, he knew she'd be crushed. Besides her friends and parents, Maureen had nothing. And for some reason-maybe it was the look on her face when she left, or maybe it was the tears forming in her eyes- he believed her when she said that she was going to come out soon. Maureen had never lied to him before, so why should she start now? She was just a confused person who loved two people at once. He knew she needed time to figure things out, and when she did, he was going to be right there-a shoulder for her to cry on. A friend to help her get through, as he had so many times before.

...

It took her three minutes to catch up to Joanne, who was storming down the street, tears threatening to spill down her face. But she wouldn't let them. Why was it that when she was around Maureen her emotions skyrocketed? What was it about Maureen that made her hormones go crazy?

"Jo, wait!" she could hear Maureen's heartbroken voice from a couple of feet behind her. Joanne spun around, hesitantly, knowing that whatever Maureen wanted, she was about to get it, because for some reason, Joanne could never say no to her. "Roger's an ass, I'm sorry. He's Mark's friend, not mine."

"You were friends," Joanne pointed out. "Until I came along..."

"Don't blame his crappy attitude on yourself, Jo." Maureen said, taking her lovers hands in her own. "He's changed without your help. Something bad has happened to him, and now he wants the whole world to suffer for it."

"What do you mean?"

Maureen took a deep breath and looked deep into Joanne's eyes. "You remember his girlfriend April?" Joanne nodded slightly. "Well, she found out a few days ago that her and Roger now have AIDS. She killed herself. They found her covered in blood on her bathroom floor."

Joanne felt like someone ripped her heart out of her chest and stomped on it. Hard. "Poor Roger..."

Maureen nodded. "So that's why he's being so protective of Mark at the moment. Love is a touchy subject with him."

"...why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"...you never asked..." Maureen tried. "Ok, I know that was a pathetic excuse... But, baby, please come back to the apartment with me! Mark should be home soon, and then my parents are coming over, and...I don't want to face them alone."

"You won't be alone," Joanne smiled. "You'll have Mark, and Collins."

"I meant alone without you." Maureen pressed on.

Joanne turned her head away from Maureen's pleading eyes for a moment and sighed. A sharp wind blew her curly hair all over the place, and Maureen softly pushed it back behind Jo's ears. Maureen placed her hands on Joanne's face, caressing it kindly. Joanne gave a slight smile and refused to look at Maureen directly. "Please?" Maureen's voice was quiet. Joanne had to giggle.

"Are you telling everyone tonight?"

"Maybe..." Maureen contemplated. "But it'd be a whole lot easier if you were there to help me..."

"Fine, fine! You win. I'll help you clean up the apartment before your parents get there, okay?"

"Thank you..." they walked back to the apartment together, Maureen terrified, and Joanne wishing the day was over.

The two girls tidied up, with the help of Collins, while Roger sat and watched. It made him sick to see Joanne and Maureen tease each other so, whilst Mark was on his way home with no idea about any of it. If she wasn't with Mark, Roger would be totally happy to see Maureen so in love. But she _was_ with Mark. And that just didn't slide. As the girls did the dishes, Collins swept the floors. Roger heard Maureen squeal, letting out a shriek of shock. He spun around to see her completely soaked from head to toe, the spray nozzle in Joanne's hand, a grin from ear to ear plastered about her face.

"No way!" Maureen complained. "Real cute, Jo!" Joanne just laughed, keeping hold of the nozzle in case Maureen got any ideas.

"I thought you might think that was cute." Joanne said in between giggles. Roger rolled his eyes, but had to keep watching, curious to see what Maureen would do to get her back, seeing as Joanne still had the hose.

"You know what I think is even cuter?" Maureen said, giving an impish smile.

"What?"

Maureen picked up the tub of warm water they were using to rinse off the dishes, and, before it could be dodged, the whole thing was dumped on her lover's head. Water splashed all over the floor, drenching Joanne and Maureen both. Joanne's jaw dropped and the two girls couldn't contain their laughter. They held on to each other so they didn't slip and fall down on the hard wood floor, and Roger just sat there, amused, for the first time since April had died. He stood up to go into his room, but Maureen caught sight of him.

"Ohh, Roggie," she mused. Collins laughed along with Joanne, throwing the broom off to the side, and subbing in a mop instead.

"Don't call me Roggie, Maureen," Roger warned. She was already on bad terms with him, and she knew that she was just digging herself a deeper hole.

"How about a hug?" Maureen pouted her lips, begging.

"You wish."

"No, come on, give me a hug!" Maureen chased Roger through the apartment, soaked and drunk with joy. Eventually, she caught him, wrapping her arms around him, getting him wet too. "Show me the love," she said.

"You have two seconds to get off of me," Roger said.

"Aww, you sour puss," she teased.

"One-"

"Uh, oh, Roger's mad..."

"Two-"

"Shit." Maureen let go and ran away from him, landing in Joanne's arms, and catching her off guard. Both girls slipped in the mess of water and fell to the ground, rolling around in uncontained laughter. Collins just stood there, setting the mop down and slowly walking away, before he got dragged into the charade as well.

Roger shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Mark chose that moment to walk through the door, throwing the keys on the coffee table. "Hey, what's-" he began, but then caught sight of the girls, who were still laughing, and still soaked. "What's going on here?" he turned to Roger for an explanation, but Roger simply shook his head and said, quite plainly, "Women." before shutting his bedroom door behind him.

Collins helped the two girls up. Maureen was holding her sides, and was just getting a deep breath in. Joanne was finally breathing right as well. But when the two girls caught each other's eyes again, they broke into a fit of giggles once more.

"You two want to explain why you're completely drenched to Mark, here?"

"Dishes-dish water-spray nozzle-water bucket-" was all Maureen could muster. Fortunately, it was all Mark needed to be able to understand.

"Ah." he said. "Alrighty then. Well, Maureen, you're parents are going to be here in an hour. So... You wanna go and take a shower?"

Maureen cut the laughter almost immediately. "One hour?" she looked at the mess around her. "I'm sorry, we were cleaning, but then-"

"You're wasting the little time you have Mo," Collins said, tapping on his wrist watch.

"Oh! Right!" she said. She skated across the wet floor and ran into the bathroom. The shower was running less than a minute later.

Joanne suppressed a smile. "Sorry about the floor," she began. "I'll help clean it up-"

"No, that's fine, Joanne." Collins said. "We'll take care of it. You go home and get a shower in before Maureen's parent's come, if you want."

"Really? Thanks." Joanne said, grabbing her coat and buttoning it up.

"Oh, and for future reference," Mark mentioned, before she left. "This is why we don't let Maureen do chores."

Joanne nodded in understanding, yet laughed once more after shutting the door, neglecting to tell him that she had started the water fight. Being with Maureen, there was never a dull moment. That was one of the things she loved most about her.

When Maureen got dressed again, she blow dried her hair as quickly as she possibly could, and left the bathroom, hanging her wet clothes to dry in the tub. She was surprised to see that Joanne was gone again, and her nerves kicked in.

"Where'd Joanne go?" she asked Mark, who was sitting in the living room area with Collins and Roger, talking about how Benny was going to start making them all pay triple what they already did.

"Um, she went home to shower. She should be back any minute..."

"But my parents are going to-"

The phone cut her off, and she answered it, starting to get jumpy. That's what happened when her nerves started to take over. "H-Hello?" she said into the reciever.

"Hello, Maureen!" she heard her father's voice say. "We're here, sweetheart,"

"Oh, okay..." Maureen said, terrified. "Come on up." she hung up, her eyes wide. They were home, and Joanne wasn't. Crap. Crap. Crap...

"They're here..." she told the boys.

"Great!" Mark said with enthusiasm. He hadn't seen Maureen's parents in a while...

"Great," Roger said in unison with Mark, with the same enthusiasm, if not more. He knew that her parents would be her weakness. She was going to be outed tonight, if it was the last thing Roger ever did. And since it was Maureen that he'd be ticking off, it very well might have been the last thing he ever did.

"Great," Maureen said, sarcastically. Collins just smiled.

When there was a knock at the door, Maureen froze. They were home, and Joanne wasn't there yet! She opened the door and, to her surprise, saw her girlfriend standing there instead of her mom. Maureen, forgetting Mark was right behind her, threw herself at Joanne, holding her tightly. "Thank God, you're here..." Maureen breathed into Joanne's ear. "God, they're here. I'm so scared..."

"Shh. shhh...it'll be okay, I promise," Joanne said, looking over her shoulder at a Mark, who had his eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face. Joanne gave him an "I have no idea why she's hugging me" face and then said to Maureen, so only she could hear, "You have to let go, honey, Mark's giving me weird looks."

"Oh!" Maureen let go of Joanne and shut the door again, her hands already shaking furiously. Joanne spent the next ten minutes trying to calm Maureen down.

"Oh, before I forget, I brought you some makeup for your show tonight, I remembered you were out of it..." Joanne said, trying to keep Maureen's mind off of the fact that the three people she didn't want knowing her big secret, very well might be finding out that night.

"Thank you so much, Jo!" Maureen said, hugging the bag of eyeliner and other assortments of colorful applicants close to her. "I've missed this."

Joanne gave a smile and Mark answered the door that Maureen didn't even hear a knock at. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson," Mark greeted Maureen's mom and dad. Maureen's happy expression froze, and Joanne whispered comforting words.

Her parents came into view, and Maureen stood up to hug them, giving a weary look towards Roger before doing so. She didn't know what he was going to do tonight, but she was terrified of whatever it was. "Hi mom! Hi dad!" Maureen faked a happiness. Joanne was shocked. She had just watched Maureen go from a completely horrified state, to a happy and exited one. She reminded herself that Maureen was an actress, and shrugged, watching her girlfriend lose grip of her parents.

"You already know Collins, and Mark, and Roger.." Maureen trailed off. "Mom, Dad, this is my, friend, Joanne." Maureen almost stuttered on the word "friend" but then remembered her place.

Joanne stood up to shake their hands. "It's very nice to meet you," she said kindly.

"It's nice to meet you too," Maureen's dad smiled.

"Hi, pleasure," Maureen's mom agreed.

Once they were all comfortably sitting in the living room, they all chatted like good friends. Maureen and Joanne kept giving each other fleeting looks, and, every once in a while, they exchanged nervous glances towards Roger, who kept his composure and acted as if no evil thoughts had yet entered his mind.

"Well, I'm happy to see that you're still with Mark, Maureen," her mother said. "He's such a nice young man," Mark gave a smile and Maureen's heart stopped.

"Yep, he sure is," was all she could muster.

Her father gave a small chuckle. "When we lived in California, there was a new guy every week. I'm glad you finally learned to control yourself."

"Mmmhmm." was Maureen's brilliant response. To Roger, this was too great. He didn't have to do anything, Maureen's conscience was eating itself alive. She would have herself outed in no time, without any interference from him whatsoever.

"So," Mark said to break the silence. "Should we go to the Life for dinner before her show?"

"Sounds good to me," Collins said, rubbing his hands together.

"I'm game," Roger agreed.

So they all put on their jackets and walked the few blocks to the Life Cafe. Maureen held Mark's hand tightly and he kissed her temple, keeping close to her face. Maureen's parents gave a small smile towards each other, as if to say, "Aww, how cute is that?". Joanne stood next to Collins, a fair distance away, nervous herself for her lover's sake. Collins gave her a small, comforting smile, and whispered,

"The secret's safe with me, don't worry."

Joanne gave a little gulp. "It isn't you I'm worried about..." she played with her hands, twisting them around for something to keep her occupied. Collins gave her a hug.

"Welcome to the family," he stated. Joanne couldn't help but feel comfortable around Collins, and she could see why he and Maureen were such good friends.

"Thanks," she muttered. "You think her parents will welcome me just as kindly?" she wondered.

Collins grimaced. "Eddie and Nancy? Probably not, i'm sorry to say..."

"Like that made me feel better?"

"Do you want me to lie to you?" Collins demanded.

Joanne shook her head. "I feel nauseous." she admitted as she opened the door to the Life, following the others inside and sitting at the table in the spot on the opposite side of Maureen. Mark sat on Maureen's right, Collins next to him, then Nancy, Eddie, and Roger. Together the table managed to form a circle.

"...and what will you have?" the waiter asked ten minutes later, getting to Maureen.

Maureen shook her head. "Nothing for me, thanks, Barry." she said. "I don't eat before a show."

"Oh, that's right, you're performing tonight, aren't you?" he asked.

She simply nodded. Barry was one of the nicer waiters that they knew quite well, considering that the Life was like the five friends' home base.

"Sorry I couldn't make it, sweetheart."

"That's okay, maybe next time," Maureen gave him a smile and he left the table with their orders.

Maureen took a sip of wine that was more like a gulp and Joanne gave her a funny look.

"You don't eat before a show," she repeated. "But you drink before a show?"

Maureen threw the wine to the back of her throat and swallowed, feeling awful. "It's a wacky world," she stated, clutching Mark's hand tighter and tighter by the minute. Mark didn't mind one bit. "Relax, Reena." Mark told her. "You'll be fine."

That didn't seem to comfort her at all. Mainly, because, it wasn't the show she was worried about, though Mark was completely unaware of that, and she hoped that it would stay that way- for his sake, and for her own. When Barry came back with everyone's meals, Maureen just sat and watched them eat, sipping her wine precariously.

"Maureen, you really should eat something," her mother insisted, pushing her plate of steak towards her daughter.

Maureen stuck out her tongue. "Meat? No, thanks..."

Nancy huffed. "You had to become a vegetarian?"

"Yes. I did. You may as well get used to it because you're going to have to kill me if you want me to eat meat, and by then it would be counterproductive, wouldn't it?" she downed the rest of her glass and Collins gave a snort. Nancy shot him a glare and he quieted down immediately as Barry poured Maureen more wine.

"Nervous?" Barry half laughed seeing as it was his third time refilling her drink.

Maureen shook her head. "Not too much," she lied, attempting to take another sip, but before she could, Joanne took the glass out of Maureen's hands and set it down on the table, patting Maureen's back. Maureen simply shrugged, moving closer to Mark. Joanne, knowing that Maureen only moved closer to her "boyfriend" to annoy the crap out of her girlfriend, gave Maureen her wine back. Maureen smiled and drank.

Nobody particularly watched this exchange of movement except for Collins, who kept a wary eye on Joanne, making sure that if Mark was going to get his heart broken, it was for a good cause, instead of someone who would just leave Maureen in a few months after she grows bored of her. But he had himself convinced, almost, that Joanne was a kind, and exceptional choice for Mo, who was always like the little sister he never had. He had a feeling that his little sis would be safe with this lesbian lawyer, who would be sure that Maureen had some fun in life, but wasn't too wild either. A good balance for someone like Maureen Johnson.

After Mark was done eating, Maureen noticed he had something on his lower lip. Knowing that she still had to play the girlfriend role, she took his napkin and wiped his face ever so gently. "You had a little...something..." she gave him a sly smile. This didn't really bother Joanne much at all. She knew that Maureen had to make the relationship look real, instead of scripted. Mark, however, did what he would have done any other time, whether scripted or otherwise.

"Thanks, Reena," he said, moving in towards her face. What was Maureen going to do? Back away? In front of her parents who thought she was straight and her friends who were all helping her keep her secret until further notice? So she let him kiss her, but she knew that him doing all the work wouldn't look nearly real enough. She took the back of his head in her hands and let her lips press up against his as they used to so long ago. She almost missed this, yet she didn't feel that spark that used to be there, which frightened her and almost completely clarified her lesbianism to her. All she could think about was how badly she must be hurting Joanne, who had to sit there and watch like it was nothing at all.

When they broke away, Mark whispered something that Maureen was reluctant to answer to right away. "I love you, Maureen Johnson." he promised her, his warm breath on her cheek. Her eyes flickered over to a wide-eyed Joanne, who was desperately trying to keep her composure and doing the best job she could. But Maureen knew she had to answer him, or else...bad things.

"I-Love you too, Mark," she answered, kissing his cheek and blushing slightly as she turned back to her red wine, ensuring that the blush was from the alcohol. It was almost more than Joanne could bare.

"Would you excuse me, please?" she asked, getting up from the table and heading towards the bathroom. Collins and Maureen exchanged a nervous glance. Roger rolled his eyes and finished his burger. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Maureen stood up and, without a word, followed Joanne, nervous about getting chewed out for macking on her "ex".

She found Joanne in front of the mirror, wiping away a few tears. Maureen froze-she had never before seen Joanne Jefferson cry-it shattered her heart into a million pieces to think that it was all her fault that this wonderful, beautiful, poor woman was weeping. Joanne caught sight of Maureen and cursed, patting the rest of her tears dry and re-applying her make up so it didn't look like she was just sobbing over a kiss. Maureen pretended to be doing something productive like fixing her shirt or her hair, but Joanne just spun around to face her, tired of pretending, and just wanting Maureen for herself. Was that such a selfish wish? To not want to share your lover with another? Joanne certainly didn't think so...

"I'm sorry-" Maureen tried, but Joanne cut her off.

"How many times have I heard those words come out of your mouth in the past three months, Maureen? You never do anything to make yourself not sorry. You've never done anything to fix it."

"What do you want me to do?!" their argument was an intense whisper. Someone left a stall behind them, washed their hands, and left, leaving the girls completely alone.

"Tell everyone the truth!" Joanne practically cried. "What is so difficult about that?!"

"I don't know!"

"Well you'd better figure it out before I just let Mark have you, Maureen." Joanne's voice got louder and louder. Maureen tried to shush her but she continued. "If you truly loved me you would do this one thing for me-"

"-and if you truly loved me-"

"I DO! You crazy, obnoxious, Drama Queen! If I didn't love you, I would've been gone three months ago." she took Maureen's hands harshly, and looked deep into her eyes. "But I'm not gone. I'm right here, and so is Mark, and you need to tell them tonight-"

They were cut off by someone walking into the bathroom. Joanne let go of Maureen, and, to their utter surprise, they saw none other than Collins enter the room. Maureen gave him an odd look, and Joanne said to him, still frustrated,

"You can't be in here, Collins, this is the girls bathroom."

Collins advanced on the two women, giving them an as-a-matter-of-fact look. "I'm gay, you think they're going to let me in the mens's room?" he joked.

"We're kind of in the middle of something, Coll..." Maureen tried to explain, running her hands through her hair and trying to calm her nerves. "I need another drink..."

"No, you don't!" Collins and Joanne both snapped at her. Maureen jumped back, amazed.

"Kay, fine, I don't..jeez..."

"What's going on in here?" Collins demanded. "I want the truth."

"Doesn't everybody?!" Maureen exclaimed, propping herself up on the sink countertop and sighing, dropping her head into her hands.

Before their conversation could go any further, Nancy popped her head into the bathroom door. "Goodness, it's crowded in here-" she stopped when she saw Collins, shook her head, and then continued. "Maureen, Mark needs you. He says if you don't get out there soon, he's leaving for your soundcheck without you."

"Oh shit!" Maureen cursed, jumping off of the countertop and using this as a perfect excuse to dodge the conversation at hand. "I'll see you later tonight, Coll! Jo, I might need you..." and she pushed past her mother, who said,

"Watch your language, young lady."

"Yeah, okay..." Maureen said, not really paying attention or caring what she said. She shoved her coat on and ran out the door to catch up to Mark, who was already two blocks ahead of her. "Wait up, Pookie! You wouldn't leave without me, would you?"

Joanne could hear Maureen's seductive pout from inside the Life Cafe. It sickened her to think that Maureen was talking to someone like that besides Joanne herself. Even if it was, just Mark. Joanne put on her coat as well.

"Where do you think you're going?" Collins joked.

"I have to go and get Maureen's make up and dress for her. I guess i'm her makeshift makeup artist..."

"I'll go with you," Collins insisted.

"We'll all go," Roger said, jumping at the chance to get back to the apartment and not sit there by himself with Maureen's parents. There would be tears tonight, if he had anything to do with it. There was no doubt in his mind that the night would be long, and he might not get any sleep. But if it meant helping Mark out, he really couldn't care less.

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**I'll post the next chapter A.S.A.P, I promise. The next chapter will be based around Maureen's performance. (Since this is Pre-RENT, she will not be performing Over The Moon. Review for me! xo~~hayleynymphadora**


	10. Maureen's Performance

**As promised, is Maureen's performance! "Heaven Help My Heart" lyrics belong to Chess, not me. "Love For Sale" lyrics belong to Cole Porter. RENT belongs to Jonathan Larson. Did I miss anything? Well, I don't own any of it. :/ there. I said it. **

**One of the more important chapters, so far, for sure. Enjoy and review, please! :D ~~hayleynymphadora**

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**_Chapter 's Performance:_**

"Ok, sing into this mic for me," Mark told Maureen, who was standing on the stage in the performance lot between A and B. This had been her venue for as long as she could remember. It was like her second home, (If, of course, you didn't count Joanne's house...).

"What am I supposed to sing?" Maureen asked.

"Try out a few notes from a song you're performing tonight..." he suggested.

"_Heaven help my heart_..." Maureen's voice rang through the mic like the Angels were calling her home. "_I love him too much_," she continued. "_Maybe it's best to love a stranger. Well, that's what I've done, heaven help my heart_..."

Mark stopped what he was doing to look up at the performance artist he proudly called his girlfriend. Her eyes were closed, her voice pouring out emotion. Her arms swayed around her of their own accord, the music moving her as if she were the song, and the lyrics were her life. Scarily enough, Maureen had chosen that song with those lyrics for a reason. They pretty much summed up her life at the moment, and she hoped her other friends would catch on to the metaphor. However, if Mark caught on, there would be a problem.

"Gorgeous," Mark breathed, looking up at Maureen. Maureen looked down at her feet on the stage, getting uncomfortable. But that was wrong. Since when was she ever "uncomfortable" around Mark?

"Is the...Is the mic working right?" Maureen asked, her eyes watching Mark intently as he decided to join her on stage. She backed up a very little bit but he advanced on her, picking her up into his arms and kissing her like he never had before. He felt like he was losing her, and he didn't want that, by any means. So his mouth softly brushed hers in the hopes that her romantic side would show again. She gave him kisses back, but with hesitation, he noticed. Before he could decipher why, someone cleared their throat. Mark practically dropped Maureen on the stage. She regained her composure and stood up straight, looking to the eyes of a hurt Joanne.

"I...need you, so you can start getting ready." Joanne explained, pushing her hair out of her eyes, clearly embarrassed to have seen what she had.

"Of course...there's a bathroom we can use, right over here," Maureen walked away from Mark, reaching Joanne and showing her the bathroom off to the side of the stage, (stage left), which Maureen often used as a makeshift dressing room when it was convenient. Before she followed Joanne into the "dressing room" she turned around once more to catch a look on Mark's face that she couldn't exactly place. Longing? Confusion? She didn't have time to figure it out before she locked the door behind her and Joanne started fuming, pulling make up out of the little carry-on bag.

"I thought it was all just an act anymore, Maureen." she said.

"It is, Jo!" Maureen sat down on the counter top so Joanne could start on her make-up.

"Well, that didn't look like acting to me. Close your eyes." Joanne commanded. Maureen didn't hesitate and Joanne applied the make-up as quickly as she could without screwing anything up.

"That was complete acting, Joanne, I was thinking of you the whole time. Maybe I'm just a really good actress..."

Joanne didn't know how to respond to that, but Maureen kept talking, as she always did when she got nervous.

"I know it's not pleasant for you, it isn't pleasant for me either-"

"Yeah, that looked like you were really going through a hardship, sucking on Mark's face over there." Joanne's heavy satire wounded Maureen. She was about to open her mouth to protest, but Joanne shifted Maureen's head. "Quit moving your lips!" she demanded. Maureen did as she was told, sighing.

As Jo finished putting Maureen's light pink lipstick on her, she started on her eyeliner. Maureen kept fidgeting and Joanne had to keep stopping what she was doing, on the account of not wanting to jab Maureen in the eye with a pencil, though she was deeply tempted. "Will you please stop?" Joanne asked, unable to contain the slight smile spreading across her lips.

Maureen finally realized that she was constantly moving around and stopped. "Sorry..." she mumbled.

"Come here," she said kindly, after Joanne had finished with her make up. Joanne moved closer to Mo, and Mo moved Joanne's collar away from her neck, planting a sweet kiss there, and making Joanne shiver.

Joanne just sort of stuttered. "What was that?" she asked quietly.

"Your reminder that I'll always love you more." Maureen replied, noticing that her lipstick had left a light pink mark that beautifully contrasted Joanne's light mocha skin. Maureen covered the kiss with the collar of Joanne's shirt. "Don't let anyone see that, or we'll both be busted." Maureen begged. Joanne silently agreed and started on straightening Maureen's hair.

After she was finished straightening her wavy brown locks, they could hear people start to enter the performance lot, eager to hear Maureen's stories and songs for the night. It was mostly composed of people Maureen saw at the Life, her family, friends, and guys who thought she was hot. But some new comers were starting to arrive as well, Mark noticed. He knocked on the door to the dressing room, telling the girls they had about ten minutes before Maureen needed to start.

"Ok, let's get you dressed," Joanne said. Maureen slipped out of her current outfit and into her black dress. The same one she was wearing at Mark's birthday. She started to zip Maureen up in the back.

Maureen felt dizzy all of a sudden, like a black out hit her eyes. "I-can't see straight..." she muttered.

Joanne looked at Maureen's bare back and grinned. "Neither can I,"

Maureen had to laugh.

"Is this the only dress you own?" Joanne asked, fixing it in the back

"Collins got it for me..." Maureen informed her.

Joanne gave her a quick peck on the lips. "It's lovely. Now, have some fun out there, okay? Don't worry or think about anything. We don't have to tell anybody anything until later if you want."

"Thank you," Maureen whispered.

"You're on, Reena!" Mark called from the outside of the door.

"Thanks, Pookie!" Maureen called back. Joanne slipped out the door and sneaked into the audience to stand next to Collins and blend in like the others. As she watched Maureen step onto the stage, she smiled, feeling the lipstick stain on her neck, almost as a burning sensation- a constant reminder of Maureen's affection.

The room grew dead silent and all eyes shifted to Maureen. The stage went black, and spotlight hit only her, slowly fading in on her beauty. She gave a small smile and said into the microphone almost quietly, "I'm going to start with a song that means a lot to me," she explained. Mark turned on his camera and Maureen dry swallowed, almost wishing that Mark and her parents would catch on to the lyrics so she didn't have to explain anything later.

"_If it were love, I would give that love every second I have, and I do_," she began. "_Did I know where it'd lead me too? Did I plan, doing all of this for the love of a man?"_ Her voice carried the tune like a bird in flight. Joanne clasped on to her every word, understanding immediately. Collins caught on too. Roger, however, just filmed her, hoping to use it as blackmail somehow later. "_Well I let it happen anyhow_," Maureen's voice continued, making the angels sigh in heaven. _"..and what i'm feeling now, has no easy explanation, reason plays no part. Heaven help my heart...I love him too much. What if he saw my whole existence? Turning around a word a smile, a touch."_ Tears started to form in Maureen's eyes. The subject matter was almost unbearable, and she mentally abused herself for even deciding to sing this song tonight, given her situation at home.

"_One of these days and it won't be long, she'll know more about me, than she should. All my dreams will be understood. No surprise, nothing more to learn from the look in my eyes_." a tear splashed down her face as she sang the next line with a fierce power, looking directly at Joanne in the audience. "_Don't you know that time is not my friend? I'll fight it to the end. Hoping to keep that best of moments, when the passion starts...Heaven help my heart, the day that I find. Suddenly i've run out of secrets. Suddenly i'm not always on his mind..."_

Maureen finished the song with a quiet intensity, making Joanne's heart fly. Collins noticed Joanne's facial expression and couldn't help but smile.

"_Maybe it's best to love a stranger," _Maureen sang the last line softly. "_Well_," she smiled, looking back at Joanne. "_That's what i've done. Heaven help my heart. Heaven help my heart..."_

The audience burst into a loud applause, Joanne almost in tears and even Roger was clapping. Maureen plotted at her eyes, drying the tears up. She gave a giggle. "Thank you." she smiled.

Mimi Marquez and her best friend Angel stood in the third row of people, amazed at how much emotion was put into the song. Her voice was good-it was obvious that she had never had a vocal lesson a day in her life, and was clearly just performing to earn money to pay off her rent-but she had a lot of depth in what she was doing, and Angel admired her for that. The friends exchanged a smile as Maureen Johnson, the name of the girl on stage, started in with a description of her next song.

"This song is very deep. Very...terrifying, to think about." she said to the audience, who was listening, quite curious. "This is a song about a young girl, who's in the street in the middle of the night, with no food, or water. No way to pay her rent. Being harassed and objectified, and God knows what by tons of disgusting men. She's lonely, desperate, tired...and she's scared."

Mimi looked in wonder at the girl who had practically just described her life for her.

"_When the only sound, in the empty street, is the heavy tread of the heavy feet, that belong to a lonsome cop, I open shop." _Maureen started to sing. Her parents gaped their eyes at her, recognizing the song. "_When the moon so long has been gazing down on the wayward ways of this wayward town, then her smile becomes a smirk. I go to work."_ She protectively crossed her arms over her chest, acting out the part, looking vulnerable, and glamourus. "_Love for sale," _Maureen breathed out sweet notes and horrifying words. "_Appetizing young love for sale... Love that's fresh and still unspoiled, love that's only slightly soiled...Love for sale."_

Joanne prayed to God right then and there that this had never happened to Maureen in real life. That she was just an amazing actress that really knew how to capture an audience with emotion. That it was simply a Cole Porter song that she felt like singing for the night. But in the back of her mind, she couldn't be so positive. The way Maureen looked singing this...the small sting of tear that came to her eyes that no one else may have noticed, but Joanne did. Maureen was trying to shove the tears back, unbeknownst to anyone else.

"_Who will buy?" _Maureen kept singing, though Joanne wished she would move on to a different song. "_Who would like to sample my supply? Who's prepared to pay the price, for a trip to paradise? Love for sale..."_

Mimi rocked back and forth, conflicted between leaving and staying. She had been in this situation multiple times a night for as long as she could remember, and she didn't particularly want a constant reminder of her only way to make a living.

"_Let the poets paper love, in their childish ways. I know every type of love, better far than they...If you want the thrill of love, I've been through the mill of love, old love, new love, anything but true love for sale. Appetizing young love for sale. If you want to buy my wares, follow me and climb the stairs, love...love for sale.."_ Maureen finished the song at a soft whisper. The audience clapped loudly and Maureen spoke again.

"I've never personally been in that situation before, but...I just think it's a beautiful and delicate song. It's gorgeous and heart breaking, and I apologize deeply for anyone who's ever had to go through something like that..."

Mimi almost started to gain admiration for this young performer. She seemed like an alright person. Someone she could possibly get to know, become friends with, over time...

Maureen then changed from over emotional, to a little bit emotional, to happy, to ending the show. Every time she finished a song, she captured the crowd with a funny story, or a thank you to her wonderful production manager. No matter what she did, she always knew how to draw the crowd back to her. Even though she was an amateur performer, she knew how to get people's attention, which was good enough for her, at the time.

As she finished up her last song, she gave Joanne a quick wink and wrapped up the night's concert. "Thank you all so much for coming out tonight, I know it's getting colder and colder out there, and I really appreciate you all showing up to support me! Thanks to my family and friends who love me so much no matter what. I love you guys!" she blew kisses out to the crowd. "Thank you!". When she finished there was a chorus of applauding hands. As Maureen made it back to her dressing room, she could have sworn she heard Joanne give a whistle. She smiled, content, and pleased with herself. Joanne followed her into the dressing room, and they locked the door behind them, going out the back exit of the room that led into an alleyway similar to the one that Roger caught them in so many weeks ago.

Joanne picked Maureen up and spun her around. The two girls giggled and Maureen jumped up, wrapping her legs around Joanne's waist. "Oh, you were brilliant!" Joanne congratulated her, kissing her cheeks, then her forehead, her nose, and then her lips, passionately. Hungrily. She wanted Maureen to be hers. Now. Forever...

Maureen kissed Jo's neck some more, so as to be able to hide the marks from everyone else. Joanne didn't mind that at all. She pulled Maureen closer, as if it were possible, and sighed in her grasp. They never wanted their love affair to come to an end, but unfortunately it had to.

"We'll tell them together...alright?" Joanne's breathing was heavy, as if she had just run a race.

Maureen nodded, terrified, and kissed Joanne's lips tenderly. "...but, does it have to be-"

"Tonight, honeybear." Joanne's eyes pleaded and Maureen couldn't say no. They walked back into the dressing room, pulled Maureen's dress off and got her back into her regular clothes. Joanne somehow managed to get all of the make-up and Maureen's dress to fit into the carry-on bag, and they left the dressing room, only to face Mark, Nancy, Eddie, Roger, and Collins all waiting for Mo and Joanne to return.

"There's my beautiful girl," Mark said, spinning her as Joanne had and kissing her cheek. "You were incredible."

"Thank you," Maureen managed a smile. "How much did I get?"

Collins threw almost $275 at Maureen and she gasped, fanning herself with it jokingly. "I've never gotten this much before!" she said, clearly astounded.

"People love you, Maureen." Joanne informed her. "We all love you."

"Aw, I love me too!" Maureen teased. "I love you all too," she said, giving out hugs to everyone. For a moment she almost forgotten what she had to do later. For a moment she was extremely excited and happy.

...

Maureen sat on the floor of the apartment, leaning up against Mark, who was leaning up against the couch, Collins and Joanne on the opposite sides of them. Roger lay sprawled over the couch, playing his guitar quietly. Nancy and Eddie sat in the only other seats in the apartment, telling tales of Maureen when she was younger only to her embarrassment.

"...she used to throw such a fit when she didn't get what she wanted," Nancy continued, looking down at her daughter.

"She still does that!" Collins exclaimed.

"Hey!" Maureen protested.

The room was filled with laughter and Maureen smiled. She didn't want this all to go away in a matter of hours. Possibly in a matter of minutes. Her whole world would crash and burn if they found out tonight. Maybe she could put it off for a few more nights... But she looked at her position up against Mark, his legs wrapped around her and her back extremely close to his chest. It reminded her too much of the way her and Joanne were sitting only a week ago. She then longed for Joanne. For _all_ of Joanne. To be able to see her every day, and not in secret. To be able to love her fully, and not half way. She willed herself to tell, no matter how much it hurt.

"Oh, I got some footage tonight that I thought everyone should see," Roger piped up in the dead silence. Mark gave him a confused look, seeing as it was normally Mark, and Mark alone, that always videotaped eveything, let alone Maureen.

"Ok..." Mark agreed hesitantly.

So Roger stood up and got his film ready. Maureen stood up, and pulled Joanne up as well. She then stood there, in front of Mark, in front of her parents, and in front of her best friend, who was one of the only people that already knew what she was about to say. She took a deep breath and began, clutching Joanne's hand for moral support. Joanne knew instantly what all of this was about, and was already coming up with ways to thank her later on.

"Mom, Dad, ...Mark... there's something you guys should know. Something that I really need you to keep an open mind about..."

Nancy's face turned into an instant scowl. "Maureen Johnson, if you're pregnant, so help me, I will-"

"No, no, no. You don't have to worry about that." she thought about the way she worded that for a second, gaining a laugh from Collins and a smirk from Roger. "I mean, no. That's not what I have to tell you," she amended, though it didn't do her any good now.

But before she could say anything more, the footage that Roger had, started rolling on the projector, causing everyone to turn and face it instead. For a moment, Maureen couldn't figure out what is was. But then, her face set and white, tears threatening to pour, and her whole body shaking, she recognized the faces on the screen instantly.

"'_Oh, you were brilliant_!'" she heard Joanne's voice as a deja vu. Maureen tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry. She watched as the Joanne on the overhead projector screen kissed Maureen's cheeks, her forehead, her nose and then her mouth. Maureen felt ready to cry. Ready to scream. Ready to kill Roger, no matter what it took. She cast a frantic glance at Mark, who seemed speechless. In fact, everyone in the room did. Roger sat down, obviously triumphant.

He had gotten everything that had just happened in the alley on film.

All of it, and then some.


	11. Being Outed

**I don't own RENT. xD**

**REVIEW FOR ME PLEASE! xD 3 ~~hayleynymphadora**

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**_Chapter Outed:_**

Maureen's breathing technique began to feel more like hyperventilating as she watched the screen still, unable to move from where she stood, and too late to stop anybody from seeing anything. She watched herself kissing Joanne's neck, and it seemed more than anybody in the room could stand. Maureen's grip on Joanne's hand next to her got tighter and tighter. Joanne, meanwhile, was fashioning the reddest blush Maureen had ever seen, and trying to calm Maureen down.

"Breathe, honey, breathe." she whispered.

Maureen shook her head, her eyes watering up as her parents and her boyfriend watched her on the screen, cheating on Mark, with a girl, no less. It was a lot of information to take in all at once, and Maureen tried to run out of the room, but Joanne grabbed a hold of her. "Be strong," she whispered. "Be strong, for me, honeybear." Maureen tried to be strong. Lord, did she try.

_"'...but, does it have to be-'" _Maureen heard herself say, then she watched herself kiss Joanne tenderly. Something Mark shuddered watching.

"_Tonight, honeybear_." and the film cut off. All eyes turned to Maureen, no one even bothered to wonder how in the world Roger got any of that on film, or why he was spying on the girls to begin with. Maureen's heart stopped, her whole life seemed to stop. She wasn't aware of Joanne even being next to her anymore. She took one look at Mark's heartbroken and disgusted face, then she turned on the spot, and ran out of the apartment, the wall of tears she was holding back bursting like a dam flooding over. She didn't even bother to grab her coat. She just ran.

She tripped over the stairs on the way out of the apartment, and her feet took her as fast as they could, speeding down Avenue A, past the Homeless people she normally smiled at everyday, and past the town she knew like the back of her hand, even in the dark. A couple of men catcalled at her as she sped by. She paid them absolutely no attention, tears blinding her vision. Eventually she just gave up on running away. She slid down the brick wall that she ended up near, and cried her pretty eyes out. Her face mascara stained, and red. She felt more alone and hated than ever before. Maureen Johnson had done a lot of things in her life that she was ashamed of, but this had to be the worst thing she had ever done. She lied. She kept big secrets, and she waited too long to tell the truth. She was torn.

It was a while before anyone spoke back at the apartment. Mark just stared at Joanne, pure betrayal wanting to pour out of his system. After a while, he was the first to break the silence.

"What the HELL?!" he demanded. Joanne almost shrunk back-he had caught her off guard. "WHAT _WAS_ THAT?!"

"I don't know-"

"Oh, I think you know damn well!" he fumed. "_Honeybear?! Why are you calling Reena honeybear?!" _

Joanne shook her head, thinking about Maureen out in the streets by herself, and about the song she was singing earlier..._love for sale_... she shuddered and put on her jacket. "I'm going to go and look for Maureen," she said. She turned to Collins for support, but he shook his head, informing her that he was going to try and calm things down there, until she and Maureen returned. So Joanne left the apartment, alone, without a clue of where her lover might have run off to. This was not how she had pictured tonight going, and she had a feeling the worst was yet to come.

Once Joanne left, Mark really kicked his emotions into overdrive. "Collins, you don't look surprised! Did you know about this?!"

"Ok, look. One thing you need to understand, is-"

"The only thing you need to know is your girlfriend was cheating on you, with another girl. Mo's bisexual, Mark." Roger interrupted.

"I think you've done quite enough tonight!" Collins said, annoyed. "How could you? Couldn't you see that she was just about to tell them anyways?!"

"Like I was paying attention,"

"Well a lot of good that did you, Roger!"

"ENOUGH," Nancy yelled. "Right now, I want to know where my daughter is, if she's okay, and what on God's green earth has been going on around here."

So Collins told them everything he knew. That Maureen and Joanne are very much in love, and they've been together for months now. How badly Maureen wanted to tell Mark, but she was afraid of hurting him. How she was going to tell him tonight, before she was rudely interrupted by Roger's eavesdropping self. How Joanne's been aching to have Maureen to herself...how heartbroken Maureen is right now. How terrified she was that her parents would disown her and Mark would never speak to her again...all of it.

Joanne wandered for at least an hour before finding Maureen, by the alley near the Cat Scratch Club, curled up in a ball, against the cold brick wall, freezing, and sobbing. Her footsteps were light as she bounded towards Maureen, crouching down next to her.

"Hey, hey..." Joanne whispered. Maureen pulled Joanne into a bone crushing embrace and wept into the crook of Joanne's shoulder.

"I can't believe he...showed them that...or even filmed that...it...it was privet...I-I was a-about to t-t-tell them..." she couldn't get her breathing under control, and Joanne knew from experience that if she didn't stop hyperventilating, she was going to be sick. Joanne took Maureen's face in her hands.

" I know you were, and I'm so proud of you for it...Take a calming breath, Maureen. Don't make yourself sick, honey."

Maureen shook her head and Joanne nodded hers. "Breathe in," Maureen did so. "Let it out slowly," Joanne instructed. Maureen followed orders, and got her short, sharp breath under her control again, tears still falling without much management. Joanne used her sleeve to wipe Maureen's tears and got down on her knees in front of her nervous wreck of a girlfriend, wrapping her own coat around Maureen's frozen shoulders.

"Now, I know that didn't go exactly the way we had planned it-"

"No, my parents and my boyfriend watching the two of us make out on camera wasn't quite what I had in mind," Maureen said.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, it wasn't exactly the highlight of my evening either," Joanne admitted. Maureen let slip a small giggle. "But we'll be okay, right? I mean...if Mark kicks you out tonight, you come and live with me. We still have Collins..."

"What about my parents?"

Joanne thought about this for a moment. "Come back to the apartment with me, and we'll work it out with them together, okay? We'll work it out with everyone."

Maureen started to shake her head, but Joanne kissed her forehead softly. "Trust me, Maureen. I won't let anything hurt you."

The two girls grasped each other's hands tightly, and together made their way towards the apartment to face their worst fears.

That night, Maureen learned that running away from something doesn't fix it. It won't make the pain go away. If anything, running away just makes it worse.

...

"Don't let go of my hand," Maureen begged, opening the door to the apartment.

"Never," Joanne promised, kissing Maureen's hand and stepping into the room where Nancy, Eddie, Mark, and Collins all stood, awaiting the girls' arrival.

For a long time, no one said a word. For a long time, Mark stood in front of who he thought was his girlfriend, and looked down at her hand, which was linked to Joanne's as if they were born that way. As if they were never ever apart for anything. He saw the undying love in between them in that moment, and in his mind, almost congratulated them for keeping their love a secret for so long. But then he realized how pathetic that sounded. _'Congratulations, Maureen, for almost getting away with cheating on me for four months'. _His mind went on scathingly. '_Congratulations for ripping my heart to pieces and locking lips with your girlfriend right in front of me.'_

But Mark said nothing of what he actually meant to at that moment. (He had to keep reminding himself that Maureen didn't know Roger was filming her and Joanne, anyways...) Instead, he advanced towards Maureen, who seemed to almost cower back. This took him by surprise, as he had never seen Maureen Johnson afraid of anything, particularly not him. "Reena," he said softly.

"Mark," she replied, his name barely escaping her throat.

He looked her over-she was a mess. Her mascara left trails down her face, making her look like a raccoon of some sort. Her outfit was covered in dirt and scrapes, she was sweating and her hair was a bird's nest of tangled brown hair. Her eyes were wide and begging for forgiveness. Joanne stood next to her, bravely, squeezing her hand.

"I'm not mad at you," he began. This seemed to relax her a little bit, though not by much.

"Y-you're not?" her voice was raspy. Rough. She seemed weak, and he had to wonder if it was all of the alcohol and no food in her system.

"I'm not." he repeated himself. "I'm...upset...for lack of better term." _'Chronically depressed is more like it' _his mind shouted,_ 'This is going to call for therapy. Like I can afford that...'_

"Well I'm more than upset," Nancy butted in. "I'm extremely disappointed in you, young lady. This is **_not_** how you were raised."

All of the fear that Mark had just erased from Maureen's consciousness was slowly sinking back to her. She clutched Joanne's hand tighter, feeling like she might be sick, and Joanne was starting to worry that if Maureen's grasp got any harsher, her hand might break. Or fracture. Or both.

"D-disappointed." Maureen repeated, her mind unable to come up with anything better to do than just repeat what everyone else was saying.

"This is wrong! The Lord didn't mean for you to love another woman! That's not how your legacy was written!"

"Mom-" but Maureen was finding it hard to breathe again, so Joanne took over for her.

" , if I may-"

"You may not." Nancy glared at Joanne with an evil eye.

"No, let her say what she has to say," Eddie said to his wife. Nancy listened, regretfully.

"Maureen and I met four months ago at the Life Cafe." Joanne started. "From the moment I looked at her...I...I thought she was the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen. Yes, I admit, I was a lesbian before I met Maureen. But she made me fall in love with her in seconds."

"What do you mean she _"made you_"?" Mark interrupted.

"Let her talk!" Collins said.

Joanne took a deep breath, swallowed, clutched Maureen's hand as tight as she could, and kept talking. Maureen thanked her mentally, and reminded herself to thank Joanne forever and ever after tonight, for doing what she didn't have the strength to do herself.

"Her charm, her beauty...and apparently she felt the same way about me. She didn't want to leave Mark, in fear of her breaking his heart and making him suffer. She still loved him, but...not in the same way that she was in love with me. She didn't know what to do. We've been planning on telling you all since the day we got together, but...we were afraid you would react like...like this."

"What other way are we supposed to react? To our daughter being a _lesbian_." the way that Nancy spat the last word so filthily, stung Maureen's heart to the core. Her mother hated her now.

"I'm bisexual, actually, and It's not something I can control, Mom!" Maureen cried out, in frustration. "I love her!"

Nancy obviously could tell that Maureen truly meant it, but she pursed her lips anyways, definitely not agreeing with her "lifestyle choice".

"..and it's not a lifestyle choice," Joanne cut in, seemingly reading Nancy's mind. That made Nancy back up even more. A lesbian witch was in love with her daughter. Lord, save her now...

Collins stood on the other side of Maureen, trying to get her to breathe properly. She, naturally, was still freaking out. Her worst fear was coming true. Mark didn't seem angry, but he sure as hell didn't want to talk to her. Her father was still trying to figure out whether or not he accepted this fact of life, and her mother was ready to burn her girlfriend at the stake.

"Hey, Mo, remember how happy we were two seconds ago?" Collins said to her. "Wanna try and get that happy feeling back? To do that, you need to breathe."

Maureen stared at her mother. Her mother, who, moments ago, thought of her daughter as ..well, her daughter. Now she looked at Maureen, clearly disgusted.

"How could you do this, Maureen?"

"F-fall in love?" Maureen's voice kept breaking, and it broke Joanne's heart to see this happening. Even her own parents didn't make this much of a deal out of it.

"With a woman."

"Mom, it's not like I purposely-"

"You know what, it doesn't matter." Nancy put her coat on and forced Maureen's father out the door. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. I don't want to see you right now."

"...mom?"

"No, Maureen Johnson. I thought I taught you to make better choices in life. I'm ashamed to be your mother. The Lord frowns upon you." and with that she slammed the door behind her.

Maureen was so shocked, she couldn't even cry anymore. All of her tears were dried up. It sort of started coming as dry heaves now instead. Joanne wrapped her arms around her, trying to soothe her, glaring daggers at Roger, who sat across the room, feeling guilty.

"...for the record, her mother would have hated her for it whether I showed that video or not..." Roger tried to save himself.

"Yeah, I'm sure that makes Mo feel a lot better." Joanne scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Come on, honeybear. Let's get you home. You need some sleep, okay?"

Maureen didn't say anything she sat down on the couch, and Roger got up to give her room. She just sat there for an hour, staring at the wall. Mark didn't try to talk to her. Collins didn't try to talk to her. Not even Joanne attempted to make her feel better. They all decided they were just going to give her some time by herself. All except for Roger, who was apologizing left and right until Joanne made him stop.

Mark, Joanne, and Collins spent the next hour packing all of Maureen's things up. All in all, It only took six boxes to carry all that she owned. They walked the boxes over to Joanne's apartment, leaving Maureen and Roger alone together.

"They would have found out eventually, Maureen." Roger said.

"I was getting ready to tell them," she said, lifeless. "Joanne and I were halfway through the damn sentence."

"I didn't know," Roger gave her a sympathetic look. "All I knew was you had played Mark for a long enough time, Maureen. He deserved to know that you were a lesbian. He deserved to know that you were using him."

Maureen turned to face Roger, a look of deep concern on her face. She didn't say a word. She lifted her hand, and before he could stop her, she smacked him across the face as hard as she possibly could. His nose started bleeding immediately and she stood up to walk away, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to sit on the couch.

"I'm sorry, Maureen. I am. But just because you don't get your way, doesn't mean you destroy my face."

Maureen pulled herself away from his grip, and turned to face him once more before walking out the door. "You destroyed half of my life, I think it's fair for me to hit you in the face." and she went into Mark's room, flopping down on to the bed. She needed to think.

...

The sheets smelled like him. She breathed his scent in, slowly. The scent that she was so used to after six years of being with him. He smelled...warm. Comforting. She was used to his scent.

But Joanne's scent was better. It was sweet, like lavender. It was also warm and comforting, and it belonged to the woman she loved. The woman she just threw her family life away for. The woman she couldn't dream of living without.

Though she reminded herself that a year ago, that's how she felt about Mark, as well.

Was she really a lesbian?

She thought of how she felt last time Mark kissed her. Mostly, guilty, but she had to dig deeper than that. Where was the spark? Exactly. Last time Joanne kissed her, she didn't want it to end. She was definitely a lesbian.

But was being a lesbian worth risking her family relationship over?

She questioned herself for half an hour, and heard the door opening out in the living room of the apartment. It must have been Joanne, Mark, and Collins getting home, but she didn't move to see.

Being a lesbian was what she was. She wasn't going to pretend to be something that she wasn't just to please her mother, that's what she grew up doing and couldn't wait to get rid of when she left the house so long ago. She wished Joanne would come into the room and hold her. Make her feel special again. Because right now, she just felt like the biggest waste of space imaginable. A big disappointment to everyone around her.

Maybe not everyone around her...Joanne had said that she was proud, didn't she? It was hard for Maureen to remember anymore. She felt drunk. Dizzy. Exhausted. Eventually her thoughts carried her into a restless sleep.

...

"I'll take her home with me, Mark." Joanne said. "But please...don't be mad at her. She tried so hard to spare your feelings, truly."

Make forced a smile. "I know she did. It's not her fault. She fell in love."

"So you don't hate her?"

"I could never hate her."

"What about her parents?"

A silence followed Joanne's seemingly simple question. Mark sighed, and ran his hands through his hair. "They'll take a bit longer to convince," he said after a long while. Joanne yawned and checked her watch. No wonder she was tired, it was three in the morning.

"Where's Maureen?" Joanne asked a half-asleep Roger.

"Bedroom." he muttered, refusing to look her in the face. Joanne nodded and turned to Mark. "May I?" she asked.

He nodded and she walked into his room, finding Maureen asleep on his bed, all cried out and looking scared. She was curled up in a fetal position. Joanne just looked at her for a minute, then, deciding she didn't want to wake her, she kissed her forehead, which, felt feverish, and walked back out into the living room.

"She's asleep," she said to Collins. "I don't want to wake her up."

"You just going to leave her here?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

Joanne shook her head. "I think it'd be better if she started new, tomorrow morning with me..."

Collins nodded. "I'll carry her home."

"You don't have to-"

"No." he said. "But I want to." he went into the bedroom and scooped Maureen up into his arms. She moved, slightly, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It's alright, Mo. It's me." he assured her. She moaned softly and slowly went back to sleep.

"Thanks," Joanne said a sincere word of gratitude to Collins.

"Anything for my friends."

At least friendship was still an important aspect of her life. Joanne didn't want to have to face Maureen again tomorrow morning, sad, frail, fragile, and mom-less.


	12. Leaving the Past Behind It's Not Easy

**I do not own RENT. RENT belongs to the wonderful Jonathan Larson. May he Rest In Peace. We love you, Jonathan! We thank you! 33 **

**Please review and tell me what you think about this story. Anything you want to see more of? Less of? Let me know! ~~hayleynymphadora**

* * *

_**Chapter 12. Leaving the past behind :**_

Maureen woke up and stretched, looking around the room, unaware of her surroundings. She was laying in a king sized bed with big, beautiful, comfortable, white sheets, with a black comforter draped across her. She then realized she was at Joanne's house. Joanne lay on her left, sound asleep, making not a sound. Had her shoulders not have been moving slightly, Maureen would have worried she was dead. She remembered the events of last night, a huge headache striking her. She dared not sit up.

The room that she and Joanne now shared was so big compared to the one she and Mark had. The whole apartment was at least 4 times bigger than the one that she had (apparently) just moved out of. Joanne was rich, whether she wanted to admit it or not. Richer than Maureen, by far. For a second Maureen considered getting an actual job, then thought better of it. When she checked the clock, she noticed it was only six a.m. Only a few hours since she had fallen asleep to begin with. She snuggled up close to Joanne and Joanne woke up, slowly.

"I'm sorry," Maureen whispered into Joanne's ear, sending shivers down Joanne's back. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

Joanne gave a light laugh. "It's alright. You okay?"

Maureen nodded. "Just...trying to get used to things."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time for that," Joanne informed her. "You should get some sleep."

"You're only saying that because you want to go back to sleep!" Maureen accused with a yawn.

Joanne gave a half smile."Yeah, you're probably right."

Yet slowly and steadily, Maureen did fall back asleep, and ended up dreaming that her mother drowned her in holy water.

Joanne woke up around eight in the morning, climbed out of bed, and went straight for the kitchen for her annual morning caramel latte. She thought back to the bedroom, where her love was still fast asleep. She couldn't help but wonder what time Maureen actually normally woke up in the mornings. After two hours, she grew bored of waiting. She tip toed into the bedroom, lightly pulling the sheets off of Maureen's skinny and fragile body. Maureen woke up instantly, shivering, and confused.

"Why-why did you take my blanket?" she asked so innocently that Joanne almost laughed. Maureen's voice was raspy, having just woken up.

"You sleep too much," Joanne complained. "I'm lonely."

"Well, I'm tired!" Maureen gasped, trying to steal her blanket back and failing as Joanne teased her with it, pulling it in and out of her reach.

"If you want the blanket, you're going to have to come and get it," she gave a wicked grin.

Maureen moaned. "I'll sleep cold." she stated, curling up into a ball.

Joanne gave up, throwing the blanket on top of Mo. "You're no fun." she whined.

At this, Maureen stood up, and wrapped her arms around Joanne's waist, kissing her cheek. "I'm lots of fun." she protested.

"Prove it!" Joanne dared her.

But before she could, there was a knock on the door. Joanne groaned. "One minute..." she said to Maureen, and she left her girlfriend hanging, mock depressing blasted across her face. Joanne answered the door, happy that she was getting Maureen's mind off of what happened last night. The mail man stood there with his arm extended, a pile of letters and bills in his hands.

"Your mail, ," he explained.

Joanne gave him an impatient smile. "Thank you," she said to him before taking her mail, shutting the door quickly and throwing the mail on the kitchen counter. Maureen waited for her on the couch in the living room, impatient yet trying to hide it. Joanne sat on Maureen's lap and grinned widely. "Now, where were we?" she asked seductively.

"Let me show you-" Maureen offered, but the phone rang before anything could happen, once again. "Dammit!" she wailed.

Joanne reached over to the side table and answered the phone, "Johnson and Jefferson household, how can we be of service to you?" she said.

Maureen couldn't help but smile at the fact that Joanne had put Maureen's last name before her own. Joanne talked for at least three minutes before hanging up and scooting closer, (if that were even possible) to Maureen. Maureen gave a giggle.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Who cares?" Joanne teased, her lips barely touching Maureen's before someone knocked on the door again. Maureen picked her girlfriend up and set her down on the floor lightly, before storming to the door and swinging it open.

"WHAT?!" she demanded. Joanne started laughing in the background as Maureen's irritated face turned into one of shock. "Oh. Hi, Mark."

"Am I interrupting something?" Mark raised an eyebrow. He was secretly wishing that he _was_ interrupting. Meanwhile, Joanne just laughed at the irony of the situation.

Maureen stomped over to the living room where Joanne lay, her side aching from a continuous fit of giggles. Maureen picked her up by her waist and shoved her into their bedroom, shutting the door behind her. You could still hear Joanne from the kitchen, where Mark stood, giving Maureen and odd look. Maureen simply smiled. "What's up? We're having a _very_ productive morning, as you can see..." she added, rather sarcastically.

"Um... just wanted to give you this," he told her, handing her a hand full of her favorite cd's. "We left them in our-my-bedroom... last night..." he corrected himself.

"Oh. Thanks." she said, sort of awkwardly looking around her new home, and remembering what had happened last night, her mood sinking lower and lower by the moment.

"Yeah."

There was a huge awkward silence, that was filled by Joanne, who left the bedroom and shut the door behind her, coming up behind her girlfriend. "I'm done laughing now," she said. "Promise."

"Ok." Maureen gave her an impish look. "Good. It's hard to kiss you when you're laughing like that, you know." she had forgotten Mark was standing right there.

"Ok, well, it's been fun, but I have to go now, so..."

"No, Mark, I'm sorry, that just slipped out!" Maureen said, feeling even worse than she had not minutes ago.

"No, Reena, it's fine, really. I have to...go. I have to... be... somewhere..."

"Where?" Maureen asked, curious.

"Somewhere, that's...not here." Mark said, leaving the penthouse apartment.

Maureen gave a sigh, and turned to Joanne. "Do you think he'll ever get used to this?"

Joanne shrugged. "I don't know. He'll probably always be jealous of me. I was always jealous of him." Joanne kissed Maureen's lips lightly, this time, without interruption. "But things will be okay. I promise. I'll make things okay."

Maureen tried her very best to perk up, for Joanne's sake.

"Now," Joanne said, making her way towards the huge kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Ugh," Maureen shuddered. "Food in the morning?"

"Oh, I see," Joanne said, turning towards the fridge and opening it, pondering it's contents. "Breakfast is a foreign word to you, isn't it? No matter. You can be easily introduced to it. What do you normally eat?"

"I...don't..." Maureen said thoughtfully. "I'm never really hungry."

Joanne gave her a disbelieving look. "Come on, you have to eat sometimes..."

"Well, Mark and I could never really afford vegetarian food." Maureen tried to explain.

"You mean like vegetables?" Joanne asked condescendingly.

"Not necessarily vegetarian food, I guess. We couldn't afford food in general."

"Yet you somehow managed to afford alcohol?"

"We were kind of a mess," Maureen guessed. Joanne tasseled Maureen's already-messy hair.

"I'd say that's an understatement." Joanne said. "Now, do you eat eggs?"

Maureen shook her head. "Nope. It's cruel."

"Oh no, you're going to lecture me every time I eat a hamburger, aren't you?" Joanne groaned in mock concern.

Maureen gave this question a little thought. "Not if it's a veggie burger!" Maureen said. "Or a tofu burger."

Joanne stuck her tongue out. "Neither one is beef though!" she complained with a laugh. "Ok, you go take a shower," she took a long look at Maureen's makeup stained face and messy hair. "and by the time you get back i'll have the best breakfast in the whole world prepared for you!" she told her girlfriend.

When Joanne pointed out the bathroom, (the one with the shower in it, which Maureen had never actually been in) Maureen nearly cried out in happiness. It was a stand up shower, with no tub, just walls. Walls made of marble, and a glass door that was the only thing for privacy. Maureen figured that when it fogged up it would be privacy enough, though. It was a grand bathroom. The sink was silver.

"Joanne, you have money." Maureen stated the obvious.

"Honey, I have a life." she explained. "Mark is just poor."

Maureen couldn't not laugh, and Joanne left the room so she could start on breakfast. Stripping off one of the few outfits she owned, Maureen stepped into the shower and moaned out of gratefulness. The shower actually had hot water! She was thrilled. She used Japanese Cherry Blossom soap that made her smell nice, clean, and flowery. She just stood under the hot water for a least ten minutes, doing absolutely nothing but letting the water drip down her back. She was right, the glass _did_ fog up. She was in heaven. Complete and utter bliss.

She escaped her happiness (which felt more like a spa than a bathroom), half an hour later. A big, fluffy, white towel awaited her body and she thanked Joanne mentally. After drying off, she went into their bedroom and unpacked an outfit to wear. Her only other outfit, she realized, was dirty.

When she made it back out into the kitchen, her stomach growled at the smell of warm, pancakes. She discovered Joanne, sitting at the table set for two, a plate of pancakes stacked high for Maureen, and one for Joanne. Each pancake had chocolate chips baked into them, a small pile of strawberries and whipped cream on top. Maureen's mouth watered and dropped open in shock.

"I didn't know you can cook," Maureen said, not five minutes later, stuffing her face with the best food she had ever tasted, because this was the first time she had eaten in almost a week.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Joanne told her happily, she laughed in her mind. She had just used Bisquick, but oh well. What Maureen didn't know, wouldn't kill her. Maureen simply ate her pancakes, content.

Joanne looked precariously at the outfit Maureen was wearing. "You know," she started. "I've never seen you wear anything besides what you're wearing, and what you had on yesterday...and the dress." she told Maureen.

The young performance artist set her fork down and looked at her worn out, ripped jeans. "That's because those two outfits are all I own," she explained, taking another small bite of food and trying to avoid Joanne's next question.

"That's ALL?" Joanne wondered aloud.

Maureen nodded, uncomfortably shifting in her seat. Joanne took her girlfriends hands and looked her in the eyes. "What are you uncomfortable about?" she asked kindly. "We can talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about, Joanne." Maureen said. "Honestly."

"Winter's coming on, Maureen, you need something to keep you warm-"

"I've had these two outfits and nothing more for five years, I'll be ok for five more..."

"Honey, you don't even have a winter jacket!" Joanne protested. "We're going shopping for you today. You don't own hardly anything..."

"No, Joanne, really, you don't have to do that-"

"Yes," Joanne looked deep into the eyes of the woman she loved. "I do. Now finish eating so we can go." she smiled.

Maureen gave a half-smile and dreaded the rest of the day. She ate slowly, savoring the flavor of a food she only had on rare occasions. While she ate, Joanne went and got ready for the day.

_'I can't believe she has no other clothes...' _she thought to herself. _'Mark couldn't give her anything. But I can give her everything she needs, wants, and desires. She'll never be cold again. Never be starving. Never be without care.'_

She put on her outfit for the day-a black shirt, regular blue jeans, and a white wool coat that kept her warm. She felt horrible that she got a fuzzy coat and Maureen was stuck with a half-jacket made of fake leather. That would be fixed before too long.

When she made it back out into the kitchen, Maureen was getting a glass of water from the faucet. After she took a drink and set the glass down, Joanne snuck up behind her and kissed her neck. Maureen swooned. "Do we have to go anywhere today?" she asked. "Can't we just stay here and-"

"Sorry, honeybear. You're going to lose your virginity to fashion today. We're taking you shopping whether you like it or not."

"But-I don't have any money."

Joanne fanned Maureen's statement away. "I do."

"I don't feel right about that."

"Too bad." Joanne smiled. "Come on."

...

Maureen was dragged out the door by her girlfriend. They walked into the first clothing store, Maureen wide-eyed and open mouthed at all of the gorgeous outfits on the racks. Joanne dragged her to a section with nothing but boots and winter coats.

"Wha-what are we-"

"Before we go anywhere else, you're getting a coat. I can't stand to look at you shiver like that every two minutes," Joanne explained, going through the sizes as Maureen just stared.

Self-consciously, Maureen looked down at her arms, which were, in fact, shivering, though she hadn't noticed until Jo had pointed it out. She crossed her arms and rubbed them warm while Joanne went through coat after coat, jacket after jacket, holding them in front of Maureen's body to see how they would look on her. She pulled out a long, maroon, velvet jacket with black buttons all down the front. Maureen's eyes glistened looking at it, and Joanne noticed right away.

"You like this one?" Joanne fashioned it in front of Maureen's body and smiled. "It would look great on you. It matches your skin tone perfectly." she took it off of the hanger. "Try it on." she insisted.

Maureen did as she was told, feeling an instant warmth rush through her. She was pulled over to a full length mirror so she could look at herself.

"I-I look..."

"Warm," Joanne supplied.

"Good." Maureen said, shocked. "For once."

Joanne gave her a tight hug. "We're going to have fun today." she exclaimed, taking the coat off of Maureen and pulling her over to the jeans and pants. Together, they picked out three pairs of jeans, a pair of black vinyl pants, and a pair of sweatpants for lounging around. Then Maureen discovered tops and they spent hours searching through them.

Shoes were next, and Maureen was all over the heels and boots. Only black though. She didn't like any other color.

By the time the girls were ready to check out though, Maureen's guilt started to kick in. "Jo, wait. I've had fun looking at all of these clothes with you today, truly, but...You really don't have to do this. I feel awful. I don't deserve any of it. I'm a cheater." she was trying to get everything out at once and Joanne silenced her with kiss.

"Quit telling yourself that. I'm as much of a cheater as you are. You DO deserve this, and I'm buying you the damn clothes whether you like it or not. Next we're going on to get you new makeup, and then we'll go home, I promise." she took out her credit card and paid for the clothes with one swipe. Maureen was stunned.

"I'll-I'll pay you back somehow," she promised.

Joanne sighed, tired of hearing Maureen plead to help out. Why couldn't Joanne do this one thing for her? What would it harm? Finally, Joanne answered.

"Just pay me back with 1,000 kisses."

Maureen vowed to do just that.

The rest of the day went like that as well, and by the time they got back to the penthouse apartment they were beat. Maureen put on her new sweatpants and one of Joanne's tank tops, seeing as how they hadn't gotten around to buying them yet. She lay down on the couch, her head in Joanne's lap, tired, content, worried, loving, and emotionally wiped.

Joanne noticed Maureen's silence almost immediately. "What's on your mind, honeybear?" she asked.

Maureen shook her head. "Not much," she lied.

"Maureen, come on, this relationship wasn't built on lies," Joanne said before realizing the words that had come out of her mouth. Maureen gave her a condescending look. "Ok, so maybe it was...but not in between _us_. What's up?"

"Why _me_?" Maureen questioned, a soft eeriness in her voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not rich, I'm not pretty, I'm a vegetarian, I'm a diva, I'm a "drama queen", I have no money, my life is a mess... so why did you pick me over anybody else?" she wondered. "I'm nothing special."

Joanne made Maureen sit up, and faced her, their bodies close. "I didn't pick you because I thought you were rich. I've fallen in love with you. Not for your money, or for your eating habits, or your career. I've fallen in love with you because you're gorgeous, smart, beautiful, funny, you have the voice of an angel, and I love you for who you are."

Maureen's eyes were tearing up and Joanne kissed each tear off of her face. "I love you too, Joanne." Maureen cried.

The two girls hugged for what seemed like an hour before letting each other go. "And, I don't have a speech like yours, but...that's why I love you too."

Joanne gave a small giggle and kissed Maureen once more before taking her hand and holding her close, and saying, "So, what do you want to do now?"

"Oh, I get to pick now?" Maureen joked. "Good."

So they did what Maureen chose to do, which Joanne didn't mind one bit.

...

He lay in bed, alone, staring at the ceiling, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Not a sound came from his mouth. Not since last night. The night where he found out that his girlfriend was bisexual, but was in love with a lesbian. (So technically, right now, she would be a lesbian, right?). When he promised her that he wasn't mad, even though he was furious deep deep down. Finding out that she was with another man might have been better than this. But the fact that she had been using him as a beard for so long... that was just too much.

She had tried to tell him that she "loved him". Heck, she probably did, at one point.

But he couldn't deal with all of this right now. His arm flopped to the right of him, feeling an empty space. No Reena. Her side of the bed still smelled like her though. That sweet smell that attracted so many...

"Why is it always me?" he asked aloud. "The poor filmmaker whose friends have AIDS or lesbian girlfriends? I'm...alone… The one of us to survive. The odd man out. It's just me and my camera..."

He sighed and stood up for the first time in 12 hours. He couldn't help but wonder what Maureen was doing right now. Maybe she had been trying to call her parents all day. Or, maybe, she's been crying in bed all day, though, that didn't really sound like something she would do. Maybe she was having fun with Joanne, trying to hide that glimmer of depression in her eyes. Or maybe she was just happy to have Joanne all by herself for once...he shuddered, realizing that he probably didn't really want to know anyways.

Getting out of bed was the hardest part, but he needed money to pay the rent somehow. Eviction notices were starting to pop up everywhere he turned, meanwhile Roger just sat on the couch doing nothing all day, staring out the window, as if April was going to come back from the dead and say, "Surprise! We don't have AIDS!".

Days went by and Mark decided that he needed to move before his muscles locked that way. He stood up, and groaned, a sharp pain filling his head. In front of him was total darkness, and his head started spinning like those teacups at Disney World. Head rush. It reminded him of all of those times he got a head rush or whiplash because of Maureen. Because she had a totally bipolar attitude, though they had her tested multiple times, and every time, she came out negative. How one minute she would be completely overjoyed, and the next she'd be ready to hit you. At one moment all she wanted was you, and the next all she wanted was that hot boy that walked by.

The 6 years they had been together wasn't consecutive, though the others didn't know about a lot of that. They knew that hey had broken up multiple times-but not the 27 that had actually happened. Yes. 27 break ups in 6 years. Mark had counted. It was just too easy to fall for her again. Joanne was in for a wake-up call. That fact made him smile, just a little.

Being with Maureen had it's ups and downs. Sometimes you felt like the luckiest man (or, in newer cases, woman) alive, and other times you wanted to light yourself on fire and pitch yourself off of the highest building. It was always, "Pookie, can you do just one little thing for me?" and that "one little thing" would end up taking up your entire day, and you'd hate yourself for agreeing to it. But then it was, "Oh, thank you so much, Pookie! You're the best!" and she'd pout her lips and wrap her arms around you and you'd think, "Wow, I have the best girlfriend in the whole world.". It was a bittersweet tango. That's it! It was a tango. That's what he would call it from now on.

The Tango: Maureen.

And Mark just couldn't wait until Joanne got on the dance floor. In the back of his mind, he was hoping that she already was.

* * *

**I admit to taking an Angel line "Just pay me back with 1,000 kisses" from I'll Cover You. I admit that it isn't normally a Joanne line. But it just seemed...so fitting. ~~hayleynymphadora**


	13. The Tango Starts A War

**All rights go to Jonathan Larson. Please review! :) ~~hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**Ch. 13: The Tango Starts A War:**

"Honeybear, what do you want for dinner?" she said through the phone, juggling her keys, her purse, and an armful of groceries.

"Nothing that was ever alive and/or moving!" Maureen said back, twirling the chord of the phone and wrapping a blanket around her. She was sitting on the couch, wishing Joanne was sitting there next to her.

"That seems to be your favorite meal," Joanne said casually, picking up a head of lettuce. Salad seemed to be all that Maureen ever ate. If she ever ate. It was a constant battle that Joanne and Maureen went through every night. Maureen didn't like to eat, claiming that she was never hungry. Joanne thought it was because when she lived with Mark, they couldn't afford much to eat. It effected Maureen in some way.

"You know me better than anybody, Joanne!" Maureen gushed. Someone knocked at the door of their apartment, and she stood up, taking the phone with her. She swung the door open and caught sight of an adorable man. She then realized, looking past his adorable factor, it was Mark. Maureen rolled her eyes. "Honey, i'm going to have to call you back."

Joanne instantly noticed the change of Maureen's mood. The tone of her voice had dropped considerably. "Why, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Hot ex-boyfriend at twelve o'clock."

Joanne gave a sigh, displeased that Maureen was still calling her ex boyfriend "hot". At least the word "sexy" was still in Joanne's favor, and she planned to keep it that way. "Okay," Joanne said. "I'll be home in a little bit. I love you."

"Love you too," Maureen said distractedly, hanging the phone up and setting it down on the table next to the door. There was a slight tension between the two ex-lovers, and for a minute, Maureen didn't know what to do with herself. "Hi, Mark. What are you doing here?"

Mark took a deep breath before answering. "Can I come in?"

"Joanne's not home-"

"That's not what I asked, Reena."

Maureen slowly swung the door open and moved back so he could enter the room. They exchanged wary looks, and Mark was the first to break the silence.

"Just because we're not together anymore, doesn't mean we have to be this awkward around each other." he said. "I still want to be friends with you."

"Because you're still in love with me," Maureen concluded.

"Exactly! I mean... no, no i'm not-"

Maureen raised her eyebrows.

"I didn't mean it like that, I just mean that I don't-" he took a huge breath. "Look. I've loved you for a very long time, Maureen, and getting over you isn't going to be as easy as just walking away. But I promise not to make a move on you or anything."

She couldn't help but smile. "Not like it would make a difference if you made a move on me or not," she put simply.

"Okay, quick and painful," Mark said.

"Mark, I'm bisexual."

"That's just a phase, Maureen! You'll get over it eventually..."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "My love for Joanne is a _phase_?! Where did you get that idea?!"

"Roger convinced me that-"

"Roger?! Oh, that's great, Mark, because he was the one that outed me to begin with, and he's oh-so-very supportive of my relationship with Joanne!" her sarcasm was incredibly showy.

"Who's normally on top, Maureen?!" Mark asked, irritated and wanting his girlfriend back.

"Excuse me?!"

"Who wears the pants in the relationship? Who leads when you dance? Give me one more chance, Maureen. This is just a phase, like girls and horses!"

"Ok, Mark, being friends might not even work for us anymore. I think you should leave."

"Come back to me, Maureen!"

"I said go!"

Joanne walked in the door and threw her keys on the counter, setting the groceries on the table and not looking up. "Hey, honeybear. I've missed you! So are we going to eat dinner now, or-" her head turned to look up when, with the corner of her eye, she saw Mark. "Oh. He's still here?"

"Yeah, he is. He was just leaving." Maureen fumed, taking a hold of Joanne's arm and pulling her close.

Mark felt guilty instantly. He didn't know what had come over him. Roger had gotten to his head. Mark had to admit, he was still desperately in love with Maureen, and probably always would be. But how could he possibly beg for her back and tell her that she was just going through a phase? He had always been supportive of his Reena...

"Maureen," Mark's mood changed drastically, and Maureen noticed, but didn't act any differently.

"Please, Mark. I'll call you later, ok?"

He walked towards her, kissed her forehead, and left. Maureen, still feeling shaken, waited for the door to close before pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose, to prevent headache. She let go of Joanne and walked in to the kitchen, sitting down at the table, feeling dazed and confused. Joanne followed her girlfriend and started taking out the groceries, strategically placing food items in the correct places.

"Was that a yes to dinner?" she asked distractedly, cupboards slamming shut out of hastiness.

Maureen replied nothing, to which Joanne's automatic response was, "What the hell did that jerk do to you?"

"He...had a confused moment, that's all. He didn't know what he was saying..." Maureen muttered.

"Well," Joanne sat down on Maureen's lap and moved a lock of hair from her face. "What did he say that he wasn't aware of saying?"

Maureen hesitated before answering this time, hoping that she wouldn't take this offensively, but knowing deep down that she would. "No, I don't want you to be mad at him for no reason..."

"Tell me, Maureen." Joanne gave out her "don't make me force this information out of you" voice. It was the voice that she knew Maureen didn't like.

"...which one of us, would you consider the man in our relationship?" Maureen asked.

"...we're both girls, Maureen, I don't know what you mean."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "Who wears the pants? Which one of us leads when we dance? Who's normally...on top?"  
"Is this what he said to you?"

"Something along those lines... He said that our love was a phase, and I would come to my senses soon and go back to him."

Joanne didn't like that answer, in any way, shape, or form. "He has no right-"

"I know, I know! Don't get all spazzy on me!" Maureen said, tapping Joanne's back so she would stand up. They both did so, and Maureen walked over to the sink, filling a glass of water and sipping it slowly.

"Spazzy?" Joanne's voice was in between a laugh and a demanding tone.

"Mark's just...Mark. He's going through a rough time-"

"You're sticking up for him?"

"Joanne, you need to calm down. I'm not in love with him anymore...he's...in love with me."

"Maureen." Joanne wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, but for the first time since Maureen had met Joanne Jefferson, she wasn't in the mood.

"_I'm_ in love with you. Mark, needs to get over you." Joanne said informatively, her hands tracing Maureen's back lightly.

"You think I don't know that?" Maureen said, growing more and more irritable by the minute. She left the kitchen and started on moving towards their bedroom.

"Do you want dinner or not?" Joanne questioned, sick of arguing.

"I'm not hungry." Maureen said, practically slamming the door behind her. This was their first fight-if you could call it that. Perhaps "dispute" was a better word-in their whole relationship.

But deep down inside, Maureen knew that there would be more. Because she fought with everyone, no matter who it was. She absolutely loathed fighting with Joanne. But she was still just too tired and stressed about her situation to do anything about it.

...

Joanne knew that she had to go over there tonight. Mark needed to know his place now that the relationships were determined. But she knew very well that she wouldn't be able to go over there without Maureen wanting to go over there too, and she couldn't do this with Maureen there. She had to be sneaky about it. When Maureen was sleeping. Because Mark needed to get a piece of Joanne's mind, and there was no way, on God's green earth, that Maureen would let her say what she needed to say.

She lay in bed thinking about this all night. With Maureen on her right, snuggling up next to her, she started to think that she didn't want to leave, but she knew that she really had no choice. If her girlfriend's ex-boyfriend was going to come over and try to convince her that she was still in love with him...things like that needed to be fixed before they got worse. She didn't want them to stop being friends with Mark. She was starting to take a small liking to Mark as a friend, to be honest. But he still needed to know his boundaries.

Unfortunately for Joanne, Maureen was a night owl, and didn't fall asleep easily. Or quickly, for that matter. They both lay there for minutes upon minutes, just looking at each other, murmuring something every now and then.

"You know that I love you, right?" Maureen said after an hour of stark silence.

Joanne shifted her position a little bit, and hesitated before answering, "Of course I know that, Maureen. I love you too."

"It's just that... It kind of seemed like Mark made you jealous earlier."

"Jealous? Of Mark? Please." Joanne tried to play it off. Maureen almost bought in to her act too, but then she smiled.

"Joanne, I would never leave you for him."

"Why not? You left him for me." Joanne vaguely muttered.

Maureen sat up. "That was different. I love you."

"But you love him too."

"Haven't we had this conversation before?"

"This is the second time we've argued over Mark today, Maureen. Can we just sleep and forget about him for once? It's no longer about him. We don't have to say his name every ten minutes!"

"Great, so now his name's taboo?" Maureen turned around, refusing to face Jo any longer tonight.

"Mo..." Joanne said, her hand on Maureen's shoulder.

"Just go to sleep, Joanne." Maureen practically growled. Joanne felt defeated, seeing as Maureen didn't speak to her for the rest of the night.

Once she finally fell asleep-which took hours, it seemed-Joanne very smoothly slid down to the end of the bed, careful not to waken her lover. Scarily enough, Maureen stretched, and turned around. Joanne stopped dead in her tracks, waiting to see if Maureen would wake up. Normally, when Mo stirred in her sleep, Joanne thought it was the most adorable thing in the world. But tonight, it would be the end of her if she was caught getting out of bed.

Eventually, after putting on a suit, and being terrified to death when Maureen stirred again, Joanne made it out of the room alive. She shut the bedroom door softly behind her, extremely careful not to make a sound, and took her keys as she walked out the front door. It was three in the morning, but she didn't care. She walked briskly down the avenue, a light snow falling around her. Her arms shivered, and she rolled her eyes. "It's too early for snow." she growled, making it to Mark's apartment and banging on the door.

It took him a few minutes to realize that someone was at the door. He rolled out of his half-empty bed. There was a person missing. A drama queen person, that was supposed to be lying next to him. He was quite obviously in a bitter mood. He swung the door open, rubbing his eyes. When he saw her, his jaw dropped.

"Joanne? Wh...What are you doing here?!"

"We need to talk." she walked into the apartment, not even bothering to wait for his approval.

Mark gestured his arm sarcastically towards the living room of the apartment as she sped past him. He shut the door and followed behind her, curious, tired, and just wishing she would leave. The atmosphere was wary-tense. Roger was snoring loudly in his room, but at this point, Joanne didn't care if she woke him up. This was about her life, her girlfriend, and her "friends"-if she could call Mark that anymore.

"Look, Jo, if this is about what I said to Maureen earlier-"

"That's exactly what this is about." she spewed hotly, not even the tiniest bit sleepy. "You have absolutely no right to come over to my house when i'm not home, and-"

"For the record, I didn't know that you weren't home."

"That doesn't matter!" Joanne exclaimed. "Maureen is MY girlfriend. She belongs to ME."

That stopped Mark in his tracks. He started talking abruptly, in a matter-of-fact tone."Believe it or not, Maureen is her own self. She belongs to HERSELF, and I'm pretty sure she can decide who she loves for herself."

"You're right," Joanne said pointedly. "and she chose me."

"As of right now." Mark said, annoyed. "Problem is, three months ago, she was all over ME."

"Yes, but who's bed is she sleeping in right now?" Joanne challenged.

"Get the hell out of my house."

"Stay the hell away from my girlfriend."

"What if she wants to hang out with me? What if SHE decides to come and visit ME?"

Joanne took a deep breath, suddenly emotionally drained and exhausted. "If Maureen decides that she wants to see you, I'm not going to stop her. But I'm not going to let you just waltz into my house and tell my girlfriend what she is and isn't."

Mark nodded. "Fine. Now would you go, so I can sleep?"

Joanne left in a huffy sort of fashion, the door making a thwacking sound against the wood as she left through it, waking Roger up. He rubbed his eyes, his hair all knotted up, and he found Mark in the living room, pacing, and red in the face.

"Man, I get it. You're pissed that your girlfriend is a lesbian. Sorry. But can you not throw things in the house and wake me up in the middle of the night? Why do I have to be punished for her lifestyle?"

Mark hesitated before answering him, not particularly wanting to. "...that was just Joanne."

"Oh." Roger sat down on the couch. "What did SHE want?"

"She wanted me to stay away from her girlfriend."

Roger nodded in an understanding fashion and took a swig of his beer leftover from earlier that evening. "She's afraid you're going to steal Maureen back...or worse, that Maureen's going to cheat...with you..."

"I WANT to steal Maureen back..." then he scoffed, listening to his own words. "Take her back is more like it. She was mine to begin with, stealing isn't necessary..."

"I get it, Mark. I do. But not sleeping isn't going to help that. In fact, that will probably make the situation worse. It's making it worse for me. So, there's clearly only one solution. GO TO SLEEP AND FORGET ABOUT MO. She'll still be there when you wake up!"

Mark lied and said he would go back to sleep, for Roger's sake. But, in reality, he just lay on his bed, staring at the empty space next to him, and never taking his eyes off of it. He wanted his girlfriend back. ...But he also just wanted her to be happy, which she obviously wasn't, when she was with him. Otherwise, she might have stayed. The other half of his mind contradicted itself. She may have very well been happy, but not "in love". Not the way she was with...Joanne.

A few weeks ago, Joanne's name was casually thrown about in a friendly manner. Now, it tasted like poison in his mouth. It gave him a headache to even think of it, though for some reason he couldn't stop.

He didn't sleep for the rest of the night.


	14. Just Like Old Times, Kind Of

**One of those fill-in-the-awkward-blanks chapters.**

**Enjoy and review!**

**All rights go to Jonathan Larson. **

**~~hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**Ch.14. Just Like Old Times...Kind of...:**

Joanne was at work, and Maureen was lonely. She had absolutely nothing to do, which irritated her to no end. Finally, out of haste, she picked up her cell phone, and texted Mark quickly, sending it before she could change her mind.

"Hi Mark," she wrote. Simple. Friendly. FRIENDly.

Mark wrote her back instantly, and she had to question how he even paid his phone bill. "Maureen, I get it. You broke up with me. You don't love me. I understand. It's over. I won't make another move on you -ever. Unless you want to do some...things."

Maureen's lips curled into a sly smile, and, before she could stop herself, she wrote back. "What kind of..things?" she asked.

"Illegal things," Mark answered back.

Maureen's heart skipped a beat as she answered next. "What sort of illegal things did you have in mind?" she asked, realizing that this was probably considered cheating and she should win an award for "Most Unfaithful Lover of the Year".

"...kill you." Mark wrote back.

Maureen's mouth dropped in protest. "WHAT?!" her fingers wouldn't type fast enough, though gasping through laughs because she knew he was joking.

"I was kidding, I was kidding!" Mark typed, laughing so hard he almost fell off of the couch. "You probably shouldn't let Jo read that. She might get... jealous."

"Why, does she want to kill me too? Do the two of you have a plan or something?"

"I guess you could say that." Mark wrote back, continuing to mess with her.

"You're a rotten liar, Mark Cohen."

Mark just laughed again, almost forgetting that Maureen wasn't his anymore. The flirting going on between them wasn't helping his self esteem much.

"Where's Joanne?" he asked her.

Maureen sighed outwardly, and answered him back. "At work, going over some legal guardian case or something like that..."

"That seems...interesting," Mark typed, due to lack of something better to say.

"Not really," was Maureen's reply. "I just hope it's not a particularly stressful day for her today. When she's upset over something that happened at work, she doesn't let me touch her for hours...If I even kiss her cheek she fumes about needing space..."

_'Poor Reena.' _Mark's thoughts were bitter. _'She doesn't get to touch her girlfriend.'_

"When does she get home?" he decided that typing out his bitter thoughts would do him no good.

"...why?"

"I just thought maybe you might want to come over with her later. We can all talk, like old times."

Maureen hesitated before writing her next reply. "I don't know... Let me talk to Jo about it when she gets home, alright?"

"That's fine. Bye, Reena. Love you."

"Bye, Mark. Love you too."

Maureen put her phone on the charger and sighed, trying to figure out what she was going to do with her time until Joanne got home. She could try and clean, but...Joanne would probably go nuts when she couldn't find where Mo had put something. Besides that, she didn't know where Jo kept the cleaning supplies, and that was assuming that Joanne _owned_ cleaning supplies. The house always seemed clean though, and Maureen spent about five minutes trying to figure out how Joanne did that without her noticing before realizing it really wasn't worth thinking over. If the house was clean, so be it. It was not Maureen Johnson's job.

She could read, but Maureen Johnson didn't read. Unless it was lyrics, a screenplay, or a script.

Lyrics! That's it! Ah, music. Maureen's muse.

So, she cranked up her favorite band, and jumped around the living room, singing at the top of her lungs and having as much fun as she could without Joanne. Which wasn't a whole lot, but she somehow managed.

. . . ..

Though Joanne didn't get home until at least three hours later, Maureen was still dancing around the living room singing to her songs with a strong power in her voice. Joanne opened the door slowly, with raised, curious eyebrows, and looked around, almost hesitant. "Do I want to know what's going on here?" she asked with a slight giggle. "I thought you promised you wouldn't throw any wild parties?"

Maureen gasped happily and hit pause on her music, jumping into Joannes arms and kissing her cheek, holding her close. "I missed you! You were gone for so long!" she pondered Joanne's last comment for a moment, before quickly adding, "And I promised no such thing!"

Joanne grinned from ear to ear, clearly just content to be in Maureen's grasp again. It was a fairly taxing day at work, where she did nothing but watch people argue over who gets which child when their divorce was final. Ugh. Divorce. Joanne shuddered at the word. Anytime that love is destroyed, another plane crashes into a building. It was just that sad. End of story.

"I would've made you dinner, but, as we both know, I can't cook." Maureen began. Joanne's amused face but no reply told Maureen to just keep going. "So I thought maybe we could go out to eat tonight. Someplace nice. But not too nice, because, well, i'm me."

Jo laughed out loud and shook her head. "Whatever you say, Reena."

"Yay! I'm starved." she put her hand over her stomach and groaned for emphasis before sliding her coat on and pulling up her boots.

"You are SUCH a Drama Queen." Joanne told her, grabbing her hand and locking the door behind them.

"I know," Maureen smiled, putting her head in the crook of Joanne's neck. "But that's why you love me," she added in a sing-song voice.

"That, among many other things." Joanne admitted.

"It's 'cuz I'm such a good kisser, isn't it?" Maureen teased, secretly hoping for a yes.

Jo kissed the top of Mo's head. "Something like that."

Maureen gave a pout of mockery at the fact that Joanne wasn't very specific, but otherwise seemed unfazed by the comment. For a minute-a whole minute, can you believe it?-she was quiet. Then got all excited, as if only just remembering very exciting news.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you-"

"I've only been home for five minutes," Joanne cut in to remind her. Mo shrugged Jo's reminder off.

"Mark and I were talking earlier. He wants to know if we can get together tonight. Like old times."

Mo could tell by the look on Joanne's face that she would need some convincing. "I don't know, Honeybear...I'm not sure if..."

"Come on, Jo-jo. Please?" Maureen begged, giving her actual pout this time. The one that melted hearts and got her everything she wanted-especially when she gave said pout to Joanne, who couldn't resist when her girlfriend begged.

Joanne raised her eyebrows, using this as an excuse to change the subject for a minute. They walked into the restaurant together, gaining a couple of sneers from a few homophobes, (which were ignored to the best of the girls' abilities), and sat down across from each other.

"Where did you come up with Jo-jo?" Joanne asked curiously. "Sounds like a stripper name."

Maureen couldn't fight the urge to laugh. "I'll be sure to tell Mimi you said so."

This time Joanne couldn't hide her confusion. "Who?"

"A loyal fan," Maureen put her hand over her heart gushingly. "She comes to all of my shows with her friend Angel."

"And she's a stripper for a living?" Joanne guessed.

"Yep! But your comment probably won't offend her, so don't apologize for it. She'll probably just laugh."

"Okay..."

They ordered drinks-one scotch on the rocks with a twist and one white wine-and continued their conversation.

"Do you not like Jo-jo?" Maureen asked skeptically, sipping her scotch.

"Well...it's not my favorite name that you call me..." Jo admitted.

Maureen threw her hands up in protest. "Well, I can't call you "sexy" out in public!" she defended, rather loudly.

Joanne resisted the urge to laugh at the people who had turned around to stare at Maureen with judging faces. "Why not? You practically just did!" she smiled.

"Yes, but did you approve of it Miss I-Care-Too-Much-About-What-Everyone-Else-Thinks-Of -Me?" Maureen challenged.

"I'll let it slide this once," Jo told her with a sly smile, taking a sip of her wine. "And I do _not_ care about what everyone else thinks."

"Lies." Maureen declared. "The woman tells lies."

"I give up." Jo grinned. "You're hopeless."

"Why thank you! That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day!" Maureen smiled fakely. They ordered their meals and Maureen kept talking, as Maureen so often does. "You never answered my question by the way..." she asked a bit later on.

Joanne swallowed a bite. "About hanging out with Mark later? Does it have to be just us three?"

"No," Mo started slowly. "I could invite the whole city, if you want me to..."

Joanne couldn't even begin to imagine what a party with the whole city would look like. Mo would probably be in on all of the action, macking on all of the guys and the girls. She just couldn't help herself. She was that sexy and everyone just...wanted her. Jo stifled a shudder. "I think just Collins and Roger would suffice..."

"Collins and Roger it is then," Maureen said, finishing her scotch and taking another bite of food. "Does ten tonight sound good?"

"You're lucky it's friday, or else I'd be saying no." Joanne half-yawned. She was a little bit tired, and though hanging out with the others did sound nice, she would much rather just cuddle with Maureen on the couch until they fell asleep in each others' arms.

"Luck has nothing to do with it." Maureen flashed a grin as she pulled out her phone to text the plans to the others. . . . . . . . . . . .

They had absolutely nothing to do, seeing as the Bohos weren't famous for throwing wild parties with one another to begin with. They were famous for drinking, and... "Spin the bottle?" Maureen suggested, laying on the floor in a bored-looking fashion.

"Why do you like that game so much?" Roger complained.

"Well, now there's two girls, not just me." Maureen rationalized.

"Ooh. Two girls and three guys. That seems fair." he took another swallow of beer.

"If you can come up with something better, Roggie, I'm all ears." Maureen glared devilishly.

Roger didn't respond, and Maureen looked satisfied. "Good. I'll start."

She pulled the beer bottle that Collins was currently drinking out of his mouth and stuck it in her own, finishing it off and setting it on the floor between all of them. Collins looked at her in a confused protest, but he was ignored. Maureen was the first to spin. It landed on Mark, and Joanne stood up.

"I'm not sure I like this game," she decided.

Mark stood up too. "I agree with Joanne."

Maureen pouted. "What's the matter, Marky? You don't want kiss me?" her eyes were glassy and Joanne scoffed.

"You know-" Collins cut in before Joanne or Mark or Maureen could do anything rash. "We don't have to play normal spin the bottle. We could mix it with truth or dare or something..."

"Or we can just not play..." Roger muttered.

Maureen had had about enough of Roger's poor attitude. She didn't want his sour-puss mood to ruin her whole weekend, because she was determined to have fun! So, in protest, she stomped over to where he was sitting, stood him on his feet, and glared into his eyes.

"You listen here, Roger Davis. We invited you all over tonight because we wanted to have fun and hang out like old times, dammit, and that's what we're going to do! Understand? Nod so I know you understand." he nodded, his eyes wide, thinking something along the lines of, _'Why did Mark have to fall in love with this crazy woman?'._

Meanwhile the other three repressed the urge to laugh. Maureen was such a drama queen. She stomped her way back over to Joanne and sat, practically, in the lawyer's lap. The lawyer didn't mind one bit, though the cameraman seemed weary about it, drama queen pretended not to notice. "I like Collins's idea." drama queen announced happily, turning to cameraman. "Mark. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," he muttered.

"Wimp!"

"Fine! Fine! Dare!"

"Yay! Okay, um..."

Mark was genuinely worried about whatever his diva ex girlfriend had concocting in that messed up mind of hers. While he waited for her to decide, he played with the fray on the bottom of his striped shirt, casting a glance at a content-looking Joanne, who was staring at Maureen's back. Mo's bra was sticking out of her tank top, and from the way Joanne's eyes sparkled, it seemed like she was thinking of ways to get it off of her. Mark shuddered, and turned his head to Roger, who was watching Maureen with a bored-looking fake smile.

"Okay, Marky." Maureen's smile was dangerous. Mark didn't like it. "I dare you to kiss Joanne. But don't get any ideas, 'cause she's MINE."

"Um, does Joanne get a say in this?" the lawyer peeked her now wide eyes out from behind her girlfriend.

"Well, you're the only other girl here!" Maureen whined. "I wasn't about to make him kiss Roger!"

"Thank God for small miracles..." Roger mumbled.

"And there's no going back on a dare." Maureen said decidedly. "So just get it over with."

Joanne lightly shoved the diva off of her lap and stood up to face Mark, though her eyes were focusing on the very intriguing ground. Mark looked just as uncomfortable as she did, if not more. Their lips were together for less than two seconds before Joanne turned back around to face her girlfriend, wiping her lips off in a disgusted fashion.

"Come on, you're over-reacting." Maureen sighed. "I've kissed him, he's not that bad."

"That was a nice boost of confidence, Maureen. Thanks for that." Mark said, sitting down miserably.

"Welcome."

Apparently Mo had no intentions of noticing Mark's satire, so he just gave up and spun the bottle. For a moment, as it spun, he zoned out, focusing on Mo and Joanne locking lips for what seemed like the billionth time tonight. He was debating daring one of them NOT to touch the other for the rest of the night, but the bottle landed on Collins, so his hands were pretty much tied. "Truth or Dare?" he asked.

"Truth."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to kiss you," he teased. "Come on, just give me a truth."

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Mark wondered.

He could've sworn he saw Maureen's cheeks flush and he did a double take just to be positive. Sure enough, the drama queen was blushing. There's no way in hell that-

"Well," Collins coughed. "Mo and I had a little fling when she first moved here..."

Joanne started choking on her beer and Maureen patted her girlfriend's back, soothingly. "Don't be so surprised," Maureen said quietly. "He's handsome."

"And it was just an experiment." Collins added. "Obviously a failed one, seeing as how we're both gay now..." he went into one of those famous laughing fits he so often had, and spun the bottle shakily. It landed on Maureen. "I dare you," he opened up a new bottle of beer and guarded it from her grasp, which she smirked at. "To stop making out with Joanne every five minutes."

Maureen pouted. "What about every ten minutes?"

Collins shook his head. "Nuh uh."

"But it's her house! She gets to make up the making out rules!" she protested.

"But YOU are the one who wanted to play truth or dare." he pointed out. "Which YOU made up a rule for: no going back on dares."

Mark silently told himself to thank Collins later.

...and the night carried on as such...

. . . . . . . .

Later on in the night, everybody was getting fed up with truth or dare/spin the bottle, so they tried to come up with something to talk about.

"...what do you think, Marky?" Maureen asked. For the past twenty minutes she had been discussing a protest she was thinking about organizing so Benny couldn't steal her performance space as he was planning to.

"About what?" Mark wondered, staring at the floor.

Maureen's eyebrows crinkled in a disappointed fashion. "Were you listening to me at all?" she wondered. Her girlfriend stroked Maureen's long brown hair, not saying a word. _'Here she goes again,'_ Jo thought. _'Another diva fit. Can't some things just be left alone?'_.

"Yes, Maureen. I was listening." Mark said in a dry fashion.

"This isn't just about right now." she complained. "Ever since our break up, you've been avoiding me! You're hardly talking to me at all, and when you do..it's like you're not even there. Why are you dodging me like this?" she seemed almost hurt by it.

"Becauseyouruptightgirlfriendtoldmeto." he slurred his words together quickly and quietly.

"Why?" Mo asked, a little bit louder.

"I'm avoiding you, Maureen, because your uptight paranoid girlfriend told me not to talk to you anymore!" he said, irritated.

Maureen's eyes darted straight to Joanne, who dropped Mo's hair and moved back, surprised by her reaction. "You WHAT?" Mo demanded.

"Those weren't my exact words," Joanne said carefully. Maureen stood up angrily, making her way towards Mark, and Joanne followed, a little bit upset, in spite of herself, that Maureen didn't defend her when Mark called her "uptight" and "paranoid". Was it really that selfish to want her girlfriend to stop flirting with her ex, and vice versa? Honestly...

"What were your exact words?" Maureen wondered, grabbing Mark's arm. Mark couldn't help but enjoy the extra attention he was getting from Reena, but told himself not to get used to it.

"I told him," Joanne began, trying to take Maureen's hand but Maureen pulled away, a surprise to her girlfriend. "To stay the hell away from you, because you chose me."

"You can't tell him to stay away from me! He's my friend!"

"Well, i'm sorry, Honeybear. But when you're constantly flirting with him even AFTER you're broken up-"

"When were we flirting?" she demanded.

"He had no right coming over and telling you that this is all a phase, when-"

"Is that what this is about?" Maureen laughed, pushing Mark's arm to the side and grabbing Joanne's hands tightly. "Why are you so jealous? You're right. I chose YOU. Whether Mark wants to think this is a phase or not is his choice. It's not a phase. I love YOU."

Joanne took Maureen's half-frustrated and half-compassionate face in her hands and kissed her passionately, in front of Mark and everyone. Mark felt sick to his stomach.

"I love you too, Maureen." Jo breathed.

Thus, Mark's nightmare continued.


End file.
